Izzy's heart
by kacsnaruhina
Summary: "I think that the most important thing to know is the place your heart belongs to. If you know this, everything becomes easier. My heart is wherever the people I love are."
1. The incident

Hello! This is my first fanfic (or at least the first one I put on this site). I really like the character Izzy, so I create a lot of stories about him. I hope you enjoy. Please let me know what you think about my fic and, if you find something strange while reading my text, it's probably because I have inspired my fic on the Brazilian version of the show (yeah, I'm Brazilian and I live in Amazon!). By the way, there are characters and places (like the Institution) that I made up.

**Disclaimer:** Oh, and I know I don't own this show, but I'm doing this as a fan and for other fans.

**Chapter 1: The incident**

Germany, August 31, 1989

The Beleuchtung Institution is the largest center for research and academic training in Europe and, as some people tend to speak, the best in the world. Not only do the most intelligent people in Europe live and study there, but students from other countries make their residence there too. It is common for young foreigners to study for free and then become researchers of the institution. That night though, a catastrophic incident happened and its consequences would be unimaginable.

A group of scientists worked on an experiment for a few years; their goal was to prove the Theory of the Multiverse. It was part of the group a Japanese mathematician, Shunsui Yukimura, who was also a lecturer and lived in the institution since he was 12 years old. His wife was a French physicist called Catherine Renoir. She was pregnant, but wanted to continue working until the end of the experiment. That night, all scientists involved with the project were in an underground laboratory.

"You should rest a little, look how big you are," Shunsui told his wife while they were preparing the computers.

"When you say this kind of thing, _monsieur_, I ask myself why I'm married with you," Catherine said, joking. Suddenly, the laboratory was shaken and a bright light began to appear from nowhere. The light spread and reached all the scientists. The pain they felt was terrible, they thought their heads were going to explode. Then they lost consciousness and fell to the ground.

When Shunsui came to his senses, he realized he was in a hospital bed. His colleagues were under the same conditions. He heard a commotion coming from people outside. Shunsui realized that his wife was not around, and that worried him.

"Where is Catherine?" he asked Dr. Weiss, who was taking care of him and the others. He replied that she was having the baby.

"What?" Shunsui was more worried "Koushiro...? No, it's too soon."

"They will be fine, don't worry..."

Shunsui fainted. When he awoke, he went to see his wife and son. They seemed to be fine, but Catherine was frightened. Dr. Weiss and the other doctors examined the child and the members of the group of scientists, but none of them found anything wrong. Everything seemed fine. The underground laboratory was closed; no one else had permission to go there. Nobody knew what had happened or what would happen. Everyone involved survived but strange accidents began to happen. The scientists began to die, some in car accidents, others in laboratory accidents but all the involved ones in that experiment started dying one after another.

One night, Shunsui, Catherine and their baby were going to Berlin by car. They wanted to stay a little away from the institution; the trauma had not been overcome. In the middle of the road, Shunsui saw a man wearing a white cloak that covered his entire body from head to toe. Before he could ask himself what that man was doing there, he saw that the strange man was holding a large silver spear. He made a movement with the spear, making a shock wave hit the car. It was thrown against the trees on the roadside. Sunshui tried to help his wife, but he felt the spear cross his heart.

Catherine was panicking. She saw the face of the enemy. He was pale, had red eyes, and some red lines drawn on his face. The woman realized that he was not human.

"Please," she begged with a trembling voice. "Do not hurt my son. Do what you want to me, but don't hurt my son."

The creature did not seem to care about her words and stabbed her heart with his spear as well. After she died, he glanced at the red-haired baby crying in the backseat of the car. He wanted to kill that child, he was a "heretic human" after all but the creature had been ordered to take the child to _her_. "He's important to us,"_she_ said, "he's the Heart." When he was going to take the kid, he was hit by an attack from behind. The attack made him fall to the ground. When he saw who was the aggressor, he felt shock and anger.

"You...traitor!"

The assailant took the child gently from the car.

"What do you think you're doing?" the one on the ground asked.

The aggressor answered: "Maybe I cannot stop you from killing the 'heretics.' Maybe I cannot stop your plans to our world and the human world but I will do everything I can, starting by saving this child."

"You fool. It's useless! You alone can do nothing against the rest of us! We will control our world and destroy this heretic world. We will exterminate all humans and you cannot do anything about it."

The aggressor gave him a sad, but determined look and said, "I'll try." Before leaving that place with the child in his arms, he looked to the other again and said, "I'll make you a promise: the next time we meet, I'll kill you for sure."

*Ah, I hope I didn't write too many errors. Please be nice.


	2. The Guardians of the Darkness

Hello! I've been very busy these days in UFPA (Universidade Federal do Pará), but now I will continue my story. By the way, do you want to know an interesting thing? In Brazil, the person who did Izzy's voice, Rodrigo Antas, nowadays does the voice of Bart Simpson.

**Chapter 2: The guardians of the Darkness**

August 1st, 2003

It was a sunny day. The Chosen (the old and the new ones) went to Digital World to celebrate their "anniversary." They were near a beautiful lake, in front of a mountain. Izzy was lying on the grass while the others were talking about something that didn't interest him. Suddenly, Tentomon called him. He was coming from the mountain.

"You'll never believe what I discovered!" the insect spoke with enthusiasm.

"What is it?" the boy asked.

"That mountain has an entrance which opens into a large hall. I believe there is something hidden there."

Izzy was curious about the mountain and decided to take a look.

"Can I go too?" Kari asked. She had overheard them. "There's something about that mountain... I feel I should go there."

"What do you mean?" Tai asked "Are you feeling there's something wrong with the mountain?"

"I don't know," she answered. "I just think I should go and check."

"I'll go too," TK volunteered, expressing his desire to go. So, Izzy, Tai, Kari and TK with their Digimon partners went to the mountain. It was huge and gray, with a small entrance that led into a large hallway. TK, who had brought a lantern, lit the path. Izzy looked at the rocky walls with great interest.

"What do you think these binary codes mean?" Izzy asked the others.

"What binary codes?" Tai asked.

"These on the wall," Izzy said, pointing to a series of zeros and ones that he was seeing. The others seemed to be worried.

"Izzy, there's nothing on the wall," Kari said.

Izzy thought they were joking with him.

"Right!" Izzy said. "So these numbers on the wall are just part of my imagination?" He touched a number and suddenly became paralyzed. The mountain began to shake.

"Izzy, what did you do?" Tai tried to get Izzy away from the wall but the red-haired boy looked like he was under some kind of trance. A light appeared from nowhere and blinded them temporarily. When Tai, Kari, TK, and their partners regained their vision, they realized Izzy and Tentomon had disappeared. Kari suddenly began to tremble and fell to her knees.

"Kari! What's wrong?" TK and Tai asked. Kari whispered in fear:

"The Darkness. I can feel it here. I've never felt it so..."

"Tai, was that over there before?" TK asked, pointing to an entrance in the hallway that they had not noticed before. "We should check if Izzy and Tentomon are on that side."

"The Darkness is coming from there... we must stop it," Kari said.

They agreed to go and check. On the other side there was an immense and oval room with a large cylinder in the center. The cylinder was connected to some machines and had a dark substance in it.

"That thing seems to be the pure Dark Power!" Kari exclaimed.

"Is that a Digimon?" Tailmon asked.

"Maybe it's something that will eventually be an evil one," TK suggested.

"I think we should destroy this thing," Tai said. "Agumon, digi..."

"Stop right there, humans!" said a feminine voice. From the other side of the room was coming a female Digimon. She had dark hair and red eyes and she was wearing a Gothic dress. Her skin was white like a piece of paper.

"What Digimon is that?" TK asked Patamon.

"I don't know, I've never seen anyone like her before."

"PERSEFONEMON!" shouted a Digimon covered with a black cloak. He also came from the other side of the room. "Those humans... were they who have broken master's shield?"

"Don't be silly, Chainmon. They're just regular humans with weak Digimons."

"Hey, you two!" Tai yelled. "Who are you? What is this thing?"

"We have no reason to answer your questions. Just get out of here and forget what you saw," Persefonemon said.

"I don't think so. Agumon..."

The three Digimons evolved to their Perfect forms. The other two Digimons looked bothered.

"Angewomon, destroy the cylinder!" Kari ordered. The Digimon was going to do as her partner had said but she felt cold chains involve her body, imobilizing her. The Digimon called Chainmon held her with the chains and threw her against the other Digimons violently.

"It's useless, humans. If your lives are valuable to you, go away!" said Persefonemon coldly.

"We're not going away!" Kari shouted. A pink light began to emanate from her. That alarmed the two Digimons.

"This feeling... is it Unschuld?" Chainmon asked.

"Go to master's room, now!" Persefonemon ordered. Chainmon ran, but was hit by the attacks of HolyAngemon and Angewomon and fell to the ground. Persefonemon lost control.

"No! Chainmon!" She ran to her companion's side. "You damn humans! You really work for her, don't you?"

Persefonemon shot black thorns from her hands against the Digidestined. One of them reached Kari's right arm, digging into the flesh. She screamed in pain. TK removed the thorn, but Kari didn't seem to be fine.

"It's cold, TK! It hurts a lot," she whispered.

Tai and TK glared at the two Digimon with hate in their eyes. They were going to order their partners to attack Persefonemon when a strong shock wave came from the top of the mountain. Persefonemon looked terrified. Chainmon called her and said:

"You know, don't you? This immense and terrible power... is from one of the six. They found us. We must find master Weisheit and run away!"

"It's useless," Persefonemon said. "It's coming from master's room. He's already there. Glaube!"

**Please let me know what you think about the story. Again, I'm sorry about the English mistakes. Next chapter, Izzy will appear.**


	3. Conversation

Really thank you for reading my story.

**Chapter 3:**** Converstion**

Izzy had fainted. When the boy regained consciousness, he noticed he was alone in some kind of spherical room. He was lying on a large and bright circle on the floor. Around the circle was a series of 0 and 1, organized in concentric lines. The lines and the numbers were glowing. Izzy couldn't move. He felt heavy. _Where...am I?_ he asked himself. He heard footsteps coming from somewhere ahead, but he couldn't lift his head to see who was coming. He was trapped in the circle and felt the stranger coming more and more. He felt someone grabbing him and suspending him from the floor. Once out of the circle, he felt a terrible pain in his entire body. He wanted to scream, but his voice didn't come out. He collapsed in the stranger's arms.

He saw himself in a dark place, there was some water on the "floor" that reached his knees. In the "sky", he could see paths of light moving fast. There were also some ruins around the place. They looked like big metal walls, which were once in the past a large technological structure.

"Am I dreaming?" Izzy asked in loud voice.

"More or less," someone said behind him. Izzy turned his body to that direction and saw someone who was identical to him. The other "Izzy" kept talking, as if the situation they were in was absolutely normal:

"This is your inner world. It's where I live. Normally you shouldn't have access to this place, I assume that the shock brought you here. Do you know how problematic it was to protect you from all the information that the binary code awakened? You would have gone crazy if I weren't here. You should never have come to the Digital World's Core, anyway. When you touched the code on the wall, it reacted with my code and we were brought to the Central Code. We would still be there if Weisheit had not saved us. Unfortunately, when we were removed from the central code, your body felt the shock and you fainted. And that's how you came here."

Izzy was speechless. He didn't understand what was happening at all, and his other self's fast talking didn't help very much. Among the many questions he had, all he could ask was:

"Who are you?"

The other was surprised by the question, and seemed to feel a little embarrassed.

"That's right, I forgot to introduce myself. As I don't really have someone to talk to, I think I talked too much. Well, we've been together since the day you were born. I think I was born that day too. But before we came together, I wasn't an 'I', I was more like an 'it', do you understand? In fact, I don't really have a physical form, I'm more like energy... and information. If I'm able to have a conscience now, it's thanks to you. Oh, I didn't answer your question, I'm sorry. Well, to be honest, I don't know exactly what I am, but I know that I'm more than this part that is within you. But this part of me is the most important part."

Izzy was still speechless. After a while, he said:

"Is it as if I shared my body with your mind?"

"You're really smart, Koushiro, I always knew that. But our relationship is a bit more complex. I am you. My whole personality was shaped by the time I spent with you. Without you I would be just energy and information. I don't want to be like that anymore. I tried to protect you, you know? Protect you from my essence, but it's difficult. You and I are the same, if I was able to see that code on the wall, you also could. Now that all this happened, I assume that you no longer will have peace, Koushiro. Me neither. I'm sorry."

"What are you talking about?"

"They probably will come after us to unite me to the central code. I don't think you can survive the process."

"Who are you talking about? Why do they want to do that?"

The other Izzy gave him a sad smile and said:

"The central code is in the core of the Digital World. It was where this world began. All the codes of Digital World are connected to the central code. If someone controls the central code, this someone will control the entire Digital World and all the digimons. But, in order to control the central code, it's necessary to control its core and unite it to the central code. And I, Koushiro," he looked at Izzy, "or better said, we... are the core of the central code."

Izzy was in shock, the other Izzy continued:

"We are the heart of the Digital World."

After a while, Izzy woke up. He was lying on the floor of a dark hall. Next to him, Izzy saw someone wearing a black coat. It seemed to be a man, he had black hair and black eyes, with some black lines drawn on his face. He seemed concerned about Izzy.

"Who are you?" Izzy asked.

The other looked surprised and answered:

"I thought you were going to speak in German. But it's OK. I'm called Weisheit."

Izzy recognized that name from Heart's speech (he didn't think in a better way to call that "other self"). He wanted to ask some questions to Weisheit:

"Are you a digimon?"

"Well, yes, I guess. But I'm a really special kind of digimon. There are just more five like me. But I want to ask you a few things before I send you home."

"Send me home?" Izzy wasn't understanding why Weisheit wanted to send him home.

"Yes, of course!" Weisheit said, "This place is dangerous for you. And you broke my shield and _went_ straight to the central code. I wonder how Weiss let this happen."

"Who's Weiss?" Izzy was confused. Weisheit didn't like to hear that.

"Don't you know who Joseph Weiss is? From where did you come? How did you come to the Digital World?"

"Well..." Izzy started to explain, "I have no idea who is this guy you're talking about. I'm from Japan, where I live with my parents-"

"Your parents?" Weisheit interrupted, "What do you mean? Your parents are dead!"

Izzy didn't expect that Weisheit knew about it.

"It's true. I live with my adoptive parents in Japan."

"But..." Weisheit couldn't believe in what he was hearing, "if you were in Japan, how were you able to come to the Digital World?"

"With this!" Izzy showed his digivice, "Some of my friends and I are digidestineds. We fight the dark forces with digimon partners. My partner is a Tentomon. I came with them today. What's the problem?"

Weisheit was in panic.

"This can't be!" he muttered, "They know about him. They made him a digidestined. Nothing of this was supposed to happen."

"Sir?" Izzy asked worried, "Is something wrong? Is it about the Heart?"

Weisheit didn't talk for a long time. Then, he gave Izzy a serious look and said.

"Put your digivice on the floor."

"Why?"

"Just put it."

Izzy obeyed. Weisheit took a sword from under his coat and broke the digivice with it.

"WHAT THE...?"

"Listen!" Weisheit approached him, "You're in danger. Don't tell anyone what happened to you here today. Unschuld and her followers will come after you. She will lie to you, don't trust her! She's after the Heart! Don't trust her or you will-"

Suddenly they felt a shock wave. Weisheit's panic was greater than before.

"This energy...it's Glaube! How did he come to this place so quickly? Damn it, Persefonemon and Chainmon are in that direction. I have to save them!"

"Wait!" Izzy shouted "What's going on?"

Weisheit turned to him and said:

"I really don't have time to explain. You must get out of here. Are your friends out there? Go to where they are. Unschuld has to keep the appearances, she won't take you in front of them."

"Who's Unschuld? Who's Glaube?"

"You have to enter the first hall you see in the left wall, following this path. Soon, you'll be outside. I really can't explain everything to you. But you must know this: I saved your life when you were a baby, but I couldn't save your parents. They were killed under orders from Unschuld. And the one who killed them was Glaube. Now you must get out here. Take care!"

Weisheit ran toward the place where Glaube was. Izzy was left behind alone.

**So, what do you think?**


	4. Pain

I'm back! Now I have to work. There will be some violent things in this chapter, but they will be in a dream, so it's not so bad (I guess).

**Chapter 4: Pain**

The roof of the place where Tai and the others were had been broken and a figure in a white cloak came from the room above. He had short orange hair, red eyes and red lines drawn on his face. His eyes were cold and terrifying and he was holding a spear. Everybody was paralyzed by his presence. He went straight to where Persefonemon and Chainmon were and ordered:

"Tell me where Weisheit is."

The two of them were too frightened to talk. Kari asked:

"Who are you?"

The figure looked at her with pure contempt. _How dares a human talk to me?_ He hated humans, but that girl was a digidestined, so he had to control himself.

"I am Glaube. I'm chasing a traitor called Weisheit."

"Is he responsible for that cylinder?" TK asked.

"He's the responsible for all the misery that plagues this world. He's a heretical who is opposed to the lady of light, who wants to bring harmony and happiness to this world: Lady Unschuld."

"So, you're on our side?" TK asked. Glaube had to control his anger again in order to not kill that human: "I'm on the side of Justice, I'm a server of the great Unschuld," he said. Persefonemon called him "idiot" in low voice, Glaube heard that and was about to punish her when he heard Tai shouting "Who's that?" Glaube turned his head to the opposite direction and saw the one he was looking for. Weisheit was across the room, looking at Glaube. He quickly pulled out two black swords from under his black coat and headed to Glaube. Weisheit was fast. Glaube used his spear to defend himself. The collision of the attacks made the cylinder break and the dark substance escaped. The digimons protected their partners from the huge dark wave, which went to the outside of the mountain and spread in all directions, Kari was feeling more cold and trembled violently. The other digidestineds, those who were out of the mountain, saw that wave and ran to the place.

"Hey, kids?"Weisheit called, "I think you should get out of here."

"Don't tell us what to do, you evil digimon!" Tai shouted. Glaube knew he had to convince those kids that he was the good one, so he said, "you really should go. How can I fight this villain if I have to worry about you?" Weisheit was angry with such hypocrisy. Tai and TK seemed to agree, but Kari asked:

"What about Izzy? He's still somewhere inside the mountain."

Glaube forced a friendly voice and said: "My partner is already looking for him. He's really competent, don't worry."

Tai and the others left the mountain. Chainmon told Persefonemon that they should go too, but she was concerned about their master.

"Don't be silly!" he said, "Weisheit is one of the six, remember? With his speed, his intelligence and those eyes, what chance does Glaube have?"

Persefonemon wasn't optimistic. _You're forgetting that master is the sixth, and Glaube is the third, _she thought. In the end, she agreed to follow Chainmon. _If Weisheit can escape_, she told herself, _then he will be able to find us there_.

The fight continued. Weisheit was worried, Glaube had mentioned that his partner was there and _he _was really competent. There was just another male digimon among the six. _That psychopath is looking for Koushiro? I hope he can escape_. The mountain was trembling because of the attacks of Glaube and was about to collapse.

"Do you remember what you said to me that night, Weisheit?" Glaube asked, while he unfurled other attack with the spear, Weisheit was able to escape from all the attacks so far, but he could not hurt Glaube, "You said you would kill me the next time we met. It sounds even more stupid now than then. How could you ever be able to defeat someone so much stronger than you?" Glaube hit Weisheit with the spear and threw him against the ground, near the place where the base of the broken cylinder was. Weisheit could barely move because of the attack. Glaube was preparing the final assault, Weisheit had to think fast. _What can I do against him? I don't have the time nor the surprise element I had the last time._ When he saw the base of the cylinder, with its cables connected to the underground, his eyes lit up, _Right, I had forgotten about that!_

He stood up with difficulty and walked toward the base, Glaube wouldn't give him any chance, Weisheit had to distract him.

"How did you survive?" he asked, Glaube was surprised by the question, "I hit your core, you should have died, your body should have been destroyed, how can you be alive?"

"How did I survive?" Glaube smiled, "With Lady Unschuld's power, of course. She gave me a new life, so I could finish my mission."

"Your mission? I wonder where Unschuld's true desire ends and your madness begins." Glaube wouldn't forgive such an offense. He advanced against Weisheit, who already was at the base. Weisheit used all the energy he still had and jumped away, falling near a wall. Glaube accidentally hit the base with the spear. The spear penetrated so deeply into the base that Glaube could no longer take it from there. He was trapped. The base began to glow and shiver.

"You see, I was trying to contain the dark energy in that cylinder, so that it wouldn't cause problems to the Digital World. Unfortunately, you destroyed my cylinder, but now it seems that you have activated the bomb I put there in order to, you know, get rid of a potential attacker."

"Dam you!" Glaube tried unsuccessfully to break free. Weisheit broke the ground beneath him with one of his swords. There he had built a path to be used in emergencies. Before he jumped into it, he turned to Glaube and said:

"I told you I'd kill you, or you really thought you could win someone so much smarter than you?"

Weisheit escaped. Glaube was still trying to free himself when he noticed a bright, white and pure light above him. He muttered, almost speechless: "Lady Unschuld..."

While this was happening, Koushiro was trying to leave the mountain. Suddenly he heard a laugh coming from his front. A pale and skinny man, with purple hair and eyes and purple lines on his face, was coming. He had a silver ring on every finger of his hands and a large smile on his lips, which really bothered Izzy. The other glared at the boy.

"So you're the Heart I've been told about. Who would guess that the Heart was just a weak child like you?"

He talked in a calm tone of voice, anyone would think he was a friendly and gentle digimon. But Izzy could feel, somehow, that guy was extremely dangerous.

'"Extremely dangerous?' And I really tried to make a good impression."

Izzy was shocked. _He can read my mind?_ He thought in panic. The other seemed to enjoy the boy's reaction.

"Your fear is so great, Koushirou. Is it because you can't hide anything from me? Is it because I can see your most hidden secrets without trouble? For someone who tried so hard to build so many _walls_, seeing someone destroying them like sand castles must be nerve-racking, right? And you have not seen what else I can do." He was getting close to Izzy, his face was getting darker, "I can make you cry and beg for mercy, I can make you beg for death."

_Move...run...move!_ Izzy tried to escape desperately, but his body didn't move. He heard an explosion and saw the ceiling falling, the whole mountain was falling, but his body was unable to move. The digimon came close enough to put his hand on Izzy's head. He whispered in the boy's ear: "Time to dream." Izzy collapsed. When he noticed, he was in a forest alone. Suddenly he saw Tai and Matt carrying shotguns. Izzy was happy to see his friends and ran toward them. Tai and Matt looked at him and pointed their shotguns at the red-haired boy. Izzy wasn't understanding. They shot him, a bullet struck his right leg and the other struck his chest. Izzy fell on the grass and cried out in pain. Tai and Matt walked in his direction.

"Why did you do this to me?" Izzy asked.

"Because you betrayed us!" Tai said, "A traitor like you deserves to be punished. Deserves to die."

"We should make this evil creature suffer a lot in his death, Tai." Matt said. He shot Izzy's other leg, making the redhead scream and cry. Then, Izzy was dragged by his arms to a wooden pole, to which he was tied with a rope. Izzy saw the other digidestineds coming, they all looked at him with hatred.

"Please, stop! I'm not evil! I would never betray you, you have to believe me! I'M YOUR FRIEND!" he shouted. The others just kept staring at him. Sora gave Tai a large bottle of gasoline. Izzy panicked. Tai poured gasoline on him and then lit a match and threw it. Soon, Izzy was in the center of a bonfire. When he was reached by the flames he cried as he never had cried before. The pain was terrible, he just wanted it to end.

"PLEASE, STOP! I BEG YOU, MAKE THIS STOP!" he screamed in despair.

"So tell me'please make it stop, master Traum. I beg you,'" said a voice coming from his front. Izzy recognized it as the voice of that digimon with purple hair from the mountain.

"You, what did you do to my friends?" The boy asked with anger. Traum smiled and answered:

"What? I just told them you were working for the traitor Weisheit and was trying to destroy Unschuld, the 'lady of light,' as Glaube says. And since I'm on the side of 'light and justice,' they believed me, and I convinced them you deserved to be punished with death. After all, you're evil, Koushiro.

Izzy was getting more desperate. The flames were burning his skin.

"I'M NOT A TRAITOR! This digimon is evil, he's lying to you! Believe me, you know me! Believe me, please!"

"Yeah, they should believe you, shouldn't they? If they truly saw you as their friend. But they don't! To them, you were just a tool they needed, a source of information and strategies to help them in the Digital World."

"LIAR!

"Am I? So how do you explain the fact that they preferred to believe in a complete stranger than in you? Come on, Koushiro, you always knew that."

"SHUT UP!" Izzy couldn't stand anymore, the pain was too great. He just wanted it to end. Why couldn't he just die already? Traum seemed to be pleased with the result achieved, then he came as close as he could of Izzy and whispered:

"Already tired of this dream? Wishing for death? You're sure a weak little kid, Koushiro. But that's OK, I've had enough fun for today. I'll see you soon! Time to wake up!"


	5. Questions

Another chapter! Thanks for the reviews! I hope you like it!

**Chapter 5****: Questions**

When Izzy opened his eyes, he realized he was in his bed, in his bedroom. Before he could form a single question in his mind, he was embraced by a concerned Sora. She was near his bed and had been watching him for a long time. She seemed really happy and relieved that he had awakened. "He woke up!" she shouted. The other digidestineds, without their digimons (they thought there were already too many people in the apartment and sent them to their homes), came from outside the room. They seemed happy and relieved, just like Sora, and began to ask if Izzy was OK. After that, Izzy's mother entered the room as well. She ran straight to his bed, hugged Izzy tightly and started to cry. Izzy wasn't understanding any of that, Matt noticed it and decided to explain the situation.

"You've been unconscious for two hours. We brought you here and waited for you to wake up. We were really concerned."

Izzy was still processing the information, but he wanted to know how he escaped from Traum. _Did he put me under an illusion and kept it without being around? So my friends just found me?_ Izzy noticed Kari had a bandage on one arm.

"What happened to you?" he asked. Kari, who was lost in her own thoughts, was brought back by Izzy's question.

"This?" she asked, pointing to her arm, "I was hurt by an evil digimon in that mountain."

"WHAT?" Izzy was concerned. Did his friends meet Traum? Did that psycho do something to them? "A digimon attacked you? What did he do?"

"Izzy, are you sure you want to talk about it right now?" Joe asked, "You just got out of a trance-"

"Trance?" Izzy questioned. Did they know he had been under the power of Traum? He was more concerned.

"Son, don't worry. It's everything OK now. They explained to me what happened, you can hear it later, now you need to rest." Mrs. Izumi said. Izzy was feeling exhausted, in fact, and that nightmare was still bothering him. There were so many things to think and worry about, but he couldn't just ignore that his friends were attacked. How could he rest without knowing what had happened?

"Mom, I need to know what happened. I can rest later, OK?"

His mother didn't seem satisfied with his words, but she knew there was nothing she could do about it. She left the room and let they alone to talk, after all, she didn't want to hear the story again. Tai decided he would tell what had happened.

"Well, after you have touched the wall, a light came from nowhere and you and Tentomon disappeared. Kari, TK and I looked for you. We entered a room where there was a large cylinder filled with dark energy. There were also two digimons there, Persefonemon and Chainmon, they didn't want to tell us what that cylinder was and tried to send us away. So we started fighting and the female digimon, Persefonemon, shot a poisoned thorn in Kari." Tai stopped, he remembered how concerned he was about his sister, "She's OK now (he whispered, like he was talking to himself). Anyway, the ceiling of the room broke and a digimon came from the room above us. He was wearing a white cloak and was carrying a spear. He said his name was Glaube..."

Izzy was petrified. Glaube? The one Weisheit told him about? The one who killed...

"What is it, Izzy?" TK asked, "Do you know this name?" Izzy was still in shock. But he noticed that his friends didn't seem worried about Glaube. He wanted to tell them what he had heard, but Weisheit said to not do it. Besides, they didn't know he was adopted and he didn't want to talk about it yet. Izzy noticed that everybody was staring at him, then, he quickly tried to say something.

"I don't know the name.. sorry, I just..."

"Don't worry, your mind may be still confused." Tai said. Tai didn't make Izzy feel any better, but at least he got a good excuse.

"Continuing," Tai began to talk again, "Glaube ordered the two digimons to tell him where Weisheit was. He told us that Weisheit was an evil digimon who brings misery to the Digital World. He was the responsible for all the bad things that happened there. Glaube serves a digimon called Unschuld, he said that she was the lady of light who wants to bring peace and justice to the Digital World, because of that he was chasing Weisheit. Then, Weisheit appeared and the two of them started fighting. That cylinder broke and the dark energy spread. TK and I ran with Kari and our partners to outside the mountain. Then, the mountain collapsed. We thought you had died when a digimon with purple hair appeared carrying you in his arms. He said his name was Traum and that he had saved you. You were unconscious. Traum said that you had been put under a trance by Weisheit, but he didn't know why. He told us that he had to take you to where Unschuld was, in order to save you. But a female digimon appeared.

Izzy was listening to everything in disbelief. But he tried his best to not let his friends notice it again. Tai continued:

"She was tall, with short green hair and eyes, and green lines on her face. In fact, all those strange digimons had those lines and none of them had 'mon' in their names, I wonder why. Anyway, she told us that her name was Leben and that Traum should return with her. Traum tried to explain that he had to take you, but she didn't want to hear it, and also said in a strange tone that she was sure that the responsible for that would stop the trance soon, I remember she gave Traum a contempt look. That bitch, Traum was just trying to help you. I also remember she said that Glaube was already with Unschuld and Weisheit was missing, but still alive. She was so cold, she didn't seem worried about that at all. At least she healed Kari's arm. Well, after that we came back to our world. And here we are.

Izzy stayed sat in his bed for a long time. Now he was understanding why Weisheit had told him to not to tell his friends anything. They had been easily manipulated by Traum and almost let that digimon kidnap him. That Leben... Izzy didn't know her reasons, but he was glad that she had stopped Traum. He was also relieved that Weisheit could escape. But the situation was not good for him. He knew that he had to tell his friends the truth, but he had to think in a good way to do it. Izzy remembered the nightmare again. _Traum was just trying to scare me. I know my friends would never do that to me..._ Koushiro was still thinking about it when he realized that Tentomon wasn't there.

"Where is Tentomon?" he asked worried. The others seemed sad.

"We don't know, we didn't find him. But Leben said that he would 'eventually appear.' How I hate that digimon." Tai said, By the way, Traum said that Weisheit destroyed your digivice. But he told us he would ask Unschuld to make another one to you.

"Unschuld?" Izzy asked worried.

"Yeah! Traum said that Unschuld was the source of the power of our digivices. She was the one who taught Gennai how to manufacture them and the one who gave him the crests. All this time she has fought the darkness and she called us, digidestineds, to help her. She must be an amazing digimon." Kari told him. All the digidestineds seemed to agree. Izzy didn't like the idea. Why was Unschuld going to make a new digivice to him? If she was the source of the digivices' power, could she control them? Was she controlling his friends now? He hoped not. But what if she really was? That nightmare could happen... No! He didn't want to think about it! He didn't want to believe in it! But he didn't know what he should do.

"Well, I think you should rest a little now." Matt said, he thought his friend was just tired and confused, "Soon we will meet and discuss more, maybe you have some clue to defeat Weisheit."

Izzy was glad that they were leaving, he couldn't hide his concerns anymore. When they left, Izzy's father was coming. After he entered, Mrs. Izumi explained what had happened. Izzy couldn't wait anymore. He didn't like to talk about that subject to his parents, but he couldn't avoid it. After dinner, he called them to the living room. They seemed worried.

"I need to talk to you and... I want you to be honest."

"What is it?" Izzy's father asked with a concerned voice.

"It has to do with... my biological parents..."

Since Izzy had that conversation with his parents when he was 10, he had never spoken on the subject again. He thought that, somehow, he would be ungrateful if he did that. His father seemed upset, his mother noticed, but she knew that conversation was necessary.

"Why do you want to talk about it? We had already talked before." Izzy's father said. Mrs. Izumi seemed concerned about her husband and her son. _I know this is hard for you, but Koushiro has the right to know. You can't keep blaming yourself for what happened_, she thought.

"It's not that I don't recognize what you have done for me or that I don't love you. I love you and I hate to make you upset... but I need to know more about them. I need to know more about my past..."

"Why?" Mr. Izumi was losing his self-control. Izzy had never seen him like that before. He always seemed so calm and understanding, why was he so nervous? Mrs. Izumi held her husband's hand. He stared at the ground.

"It's time to let it go." she told her husband, "I know it's painful, but you can no longer avoid it. I know Koushiro is going to understand..."

"NO, HE'S NOT!" Mr. Izumi stood up, he had tears in his eyes. Izzy was feeling horrible for being the responsible for that. "It's unforgivable... he will hate me for that... I hate myself for that... they needed my help and I didn't... I didn't..."

"I'll never hate you!" Izzy said firmly. His parents were surprised."I don't know what you did or did not, but it doesn't matter! I know you! You are my father and always will be. So don't despise my love to the point of thinking I would hate you... even if you did a horrible thing, what I doubt, I'd forgive you. So stop saying... stop saying that... stop it, please."

There was silence for a while. Izzy continued:

"I'm sorry for causing this to you, but I need to know more about them. I need to understand why, suddenly, my life became such a mess..."

"What are you talking about?" Izzy's mother asked. Izzy took a deep breath and prepared himself to talk.

"What I'm going to say, I didn't tell my friends. When I touched the binary code I saw on the mountain's wall, I was transported to a circle. I was trapped there, I couldn't move... but I was rescued by a digimon called Weisheit. I remember I collapsed after that and... I kind of... talked to someone in my mind. That someone said he was a kind of energy and information that was with me since I was born. He said he was part of me and that he and I were the heart of the Digital World. He told me there were digimons after his power... our power...whatever. He said that they wanted to unite the 'heart' to the central code of that world, in order to control it. And he said that, if they did that, I would die. When I woke up, Weisheit treated me well and wanted to send me 'home.' But he thought my home was in Germany. He was surprised and worried when I told him I lived in Japan with you. He asked me if I knew a man called Joseph Weiss..." Mr. Izumi went pale when Izzy said that name, Mrs. Izumi wasn't very different. Izzy continued:

"He told me that my biological parents were murdered by the digimon called Glaube, under the orders of Unschuld. These digimons are after me because of the heart. After that, Weisheit went to some other place to fight Glaube, and a digimon called Traum found me and tortured me with an illusion... a nightmare in which I was until I woke up in my bed. It looks like, Unschuld and her followers are lying to my friends. And my friends trust them. Now, I don't know what to do."

"That's... unbelievable." Izzy's mother said. Mr. Izumi was in complete silence, then he spoke:

"Shunsui had said that something had happened. An incident... something horrible had happened to Catherine and to you. It may have something to do with this story."

"Shunsui? Catherine?" Izzy asked.

"You're right, you need to know about it, Koushiro. I wished I would never need to talk about that. I wished that had never happened. The pain their deaths caused to me... the guilt... were too great."

Mr. Izumi stared at his son. Tears were falling from his eyes again, his wife seemed sad too.

"It's time to you know the story. I don't know all the details, but I'll tell you everything I know about Shunsui and Catherine."

"They...?" Izzy already knew who they were.

"Yes. They were your parents. The people I refused to help, the people I abandoned and let die."


	6. Change

This is a big chapter, I know. It's basically a flash-back chapter. I wanted to work with Izzy's father's past and his relationship with Izzy's biological father. The action will return in later chapters, I promise. I hope you enjoy. And please, review me, I want to know what you think about the story.

**Chapter 6: Change**

Masami Izumi lived in Hokkaido since he was born. His mother had died when he was four years old. He lived with his father. Mr. Izumi owned a small warehouse, which was near their house.

Masami had a classmate who he really liked, a girl called Yoshie Hitsugaya. She was a terrific pianist, and Masami always found her the most beautiful girl in the world. He never had enough courage to talk to her.

It was a snowing afternoon when Masami's life changed. He was 12 years old when his father received a letter from Tokyo. Masami remembered how sad his father was. Mr. Izumi said something had happened to his cousin and he had to go to Tokyo. Masami agreed to stay home and take care of the warehouse. He was in his winter break, after all. A week later, Mr. Izumi returned with a young boy.

"Who's that?" Masami asked his father. He was talking about a boy with black hair who had come with his father from Tokyo. It was a direct question, Masami made it just after the boy entered the house. Mr. Izumi didn't like the rude tone of his son.

"This is Shunsui Yukimura. He's 10 and was my cousin's son. He will live with us." Mr. Izumi said with a solemn voice. The young Shunsui seemed intimidated by Masami.

"Live with us? What do you mean? You go out for a week and brings a total stranger to live with us? His family doesn't want him anymore or what?"

Mr. Izumi held his son's arm and went to a room with him. Masami noticed that his father was mad at him.

"My cousin and her husband died on a fire on their house a week ago. Shunsui was the only one to survive. Do you have any idea through how much pain that kid has passed? He needs support."

"Why does it have to be our support?"

"We are his only family, we can't just-"

"You could just let him in some orphanage."

Mr. Izumi slapped his son.

"Orphanage? You want me to let my cousin's son in an orphanage? She was like my sister! She lived near my house until she went to Tokyo and get married, 13 years ago! Shunsui will stay in this house and it will be better if you stopped acting like a spoiled child!"

Mr. Izumi put Shunsui to sleep in Masami's bedroom, against his son's will, of course. He didn't like sharing his room with that boy. He thought he was a weird type, who always was studying Math at the free times. Shunsui also used to help with the house and the warehouse. Mr. Izumi used to praise his hard work. Shunsui was the best student of his class, perhaps the best of the school. That made Mr. Izumi praises him more. The man used to talk about the time he played with his cousin. She used to win him in snow ball's fights. Masami hated all that attention his father was giving to Shunsui. Masami wanted that the boy disappeared.

**Two years later**

One day, when the boys were going to school, Yoshie Hitsugaya met them on the way. She said a polite hello. Masami turned red and stared at the ground. Shunsui noticed that. Later, in that day, Yoshie invited Masami to walk to their homes, which were not really far from each other. Masami couldn't believe that was happening. The girl of his dreams wanted to walk with him! He said "yes" so quickly that he worried that Yoshie would think he was insane. But the girl didn't seem to bother about it. Suddenly, Masami remembered, sadly, that he had to wait for Shunsui. But Yoshie said that she had met Shunsui in the class's break, and she had seen the principal calling the boy to his office. He had asked her to tell Masami that he could go because he would stay for a long time in school.

"Shunsui is in the principal's office?" he asked amazed, "Did he do anything bad?"

"No, I don't think so, he seems to be a good boy. But it sounded something serious." Yoshie wasn't understanding why the idea of Shunsui doing something bad made Masami so happy.

Later on that day, Shunsui came back home. Masami was in his bedroom and Mr. Izumi was in the living room. Masami noticed Shunsui was spending too much time with his father. _Is he telling dad he did a bad thing? I bet my father is scolding him. But it's too quiet, why isn't he yelling? Maybe it's a really bad thing. I have to know what that "Mr. Perfect" did!_

Masami was heading toward the door when Shunsui opened it and entered. He seemed really sad.

"What is it, genius? What did you do to go to principal's office? Did my father scold you?" Masami couldn't hide his happiness. Shunsui was staring at the ground.

" ...There was a man there..." Shunsui began to talk, "his name was Albert Schultz, I guess. He's the headmaster of an institution in Germany. He heard about my grades and my interest in Math and... he invited me to go there. I'd live in Germany to study and wouldn't have to worry about money. He said that the institution would even send money to Mr. Izumi..."

Masami was listening in disbelief.

"I told your father about it. He said that he didn't need any money from a German man and he didn't want me to go. But he also said that it was my choice and he would respect it. I know it's a good opportunity and it would help Mr. Izumi, but... I don't... I don't want to..."

Suddenly Masami began to laugh. Shunsui seemed confused.

"Ha ha ha ha ha, I don't believe it! You're going to Germany! You're finally getting out of my house? Of my life? I don't believe... ha ha ha... I'll finally get rid of you?"

Shunsui didn't say a word at all, he just watched how happy Masami was. The next morning, Shunsui told Mr. Izumi that he wanted to go to Germany. The man tried to dissuade the boy, but it was useless. Two weeks later, Mr. Izumi and Masami went with Shunsui to the airport.

"Mr. Izumi," Shunsui said, before entering the airplane, "I just wanted to thank you for everything. I really like you! You are like a second father for me. I'll never forget you."

Mr. Izumi was very sad, as sad as Shunsui was, but he forced a smile and said:

"And you are like a son for me. I'll write you every day. I'll never forget, I promise."

Shunsui looked at Masami, who looked at somewhere else.

"Masami, say something to Shunsui!" Mr. Izumi ordered, Masami didn't say anything. He knew his father wasn't going to yell at him in the middle of the airport. Shunsui, however, said a thing to Masami:

"I'm sorry about everything. I hope you have a good life and take care of Yoshie. She's a good girl."

"What do you mean? Why are you talking about Yoshie? Have you been spying on us?" Masami asked angrily. Shunsui just smiled at him.

"I also hope you change, otherwise you'll be alone forever."

Masami almost slapped the other boy. Mr. Izumi held him in time. Shunsui said good-bye one last time and went to the airplane.

Mr. Izumi didn't scold his son when they went back home. He barely talked to him. He was deeply disappointed at him. Masami didn't talk to his father as well. He was mad at him for giving such attention to someone else's son. But Masami was mader at Shunsui! He told him to change! Who did he think he was? With the time, Mr. Izumi, even disappointed, tried to get closer to his son again. However, Masami didn't want to get closer to his father.

**Four years later**

Masami was going to Tokyo. He had been approved in a university there and was going to study architecture. Yoshie also was going to Tokyo to study music. The day before he left, Mr. Izumi called him to a conversation.

"Masami, you're really going, aren't you?"

"What? Don't you want that I go?" the young man asked.

"You can do what you want with your life." Mr. Izumi said.

There was silence. For a long time there was silence between them. Masami was leaving. Mr. Izumi didn't want him to leave in that silence.

"I was too soft to you."

"What?" Masami didn't believe in what he just had heard.

"When your mother died, I thought I would not be able to raise you. I thought I would be a bad father. So I spoiled you. I let you do all what you wanted. I wasn't firm when you deserved to be punished. I overprotected you and you became a selfish person. I had not realized that until Shunsui came to this house and you treated him that way."

"Of course! Shunsui! As always, you brought him into the conversation! Mr. Perfect! The one who never failed, the one you never scolded! You never let me forget that you wanted he was your son instead of me."

"Stop playing the victim, Masami! You never had reasons to be envious-"

"ENVIOUS?" Masami was furious.

"Yes! Envious! You thought that Shunsui was a threat to you. So you always treated him badly. I bet you even convinced him to go to Germany. All I wanted was that you saw him as a little brother, as I used to see his mother as my little sister."

"Sister? Sometimes I ask myself if she wasn't other thing to you. Did you visit your 'sister' in Tokyo? I bet you did. I bet you treated Shunsui as a son because you knew there was a chance of he really-"

Mr. Izumi slapped Masami before he finished the sentence. He had gone too far.

"Is it so hard for you to understand, Masami? Shunsui's mother really was like a sister to me. I saw her that way, no matter if she was just my cousin. And I saw Shunsui as my son, no matter if he was just my cousin's son. Do you think love is so limited to the point I can only love someone who has a close blood tie to me? True love is not like that! I wish you could understand it."

"It's nonsense! I don't want to hear it anymore."

Masami was leaving the house. He couldn't stand that anymore.

"Son," Mr. Izumi called, "I don't desire anything bad to you. I love you. I hope the day comes when you understand true love. And I hope you change."

Masami didn't believe in what his father was saying.

"You hope that I change? Let me guess, you want that so I would not be alone, right?"

"No, son." Mr. Izumi was serious. Masami was surprised with that answer, "I want you to change because I want you to be happy. Truly happy."

Masami stayed in silence. He didn't expect that. Then he left. That was the last time the two of them talked to each other.

**Five years later**

Masami and Yoshie got married. They lived in Tokyo. Masami had just gotten a job when Yoshie told him she was waiting a baby. Their first son! Masami was really nervous about the idea of being a parent. Yoshie wasn't different. She was a piano teacher in a music school, but had gotten a license. Their apartment was too small for a piano, but Masami promised his wife one day he would buy her a piano.

In a snowing morning, a letter from Hokkaido came. It said that Mr. Izumi, Masami's father, had died. It was a shock to Masami. He hadn't talked to his father in five years. He didn't open any of the letters he had sent. Was there some in which he said he was sick? He felt horrible. Yoshie, who was with an eight months pregnancy, tried to talk to her husband.

"Masami. I'm so sorry about your father."

"I must go to Hokkaido." he said without looking at her.

"I'll go with you."

"No! You're pregnant. The winter there is too rigorous-"

"I was born in Hokkaido, if you don't remember. I spent a big part of my life there. You can't be alone in a moment like this."

In the end, Masami agreed. They went to Hokkaido in the same day. The funeral was very simple. Just the closest friends. But everyone in the neighborhood were sad. Mr. Izumi was a gentle man and a lot of people respected him. Masami found out his father had died of pneumonia. The day next the funeral, Masami wanted to visit his father's grave again. Yoshie went with him. There they found a man in front of the grave. He wasn't tall, had short black hair and deep black eyes. When he turned to see who was coming, he recognized the couple.

"Masami? And that's Yoshie with you? Wow, don't tell me you're married and waiting a baby!"

"I don't believe it!" Yoshie said, "You're Shunsui! I haven't seen you in nine years! How are you?"

"I've gotten married to a French woman. She works with me in the institution."

"Did she come with you?"

"No, she's in Germany. We thought it wasn't a good idea a five months pregnant take an airplane."

"You're going to be a father too? That's awesome."

Yoshie noticed that her husband didn't exchange a single word with Shunsui.

"So, Masami, I think I'm going back to the hotel."

"I'll go with you." Masami said. Yoshie didn't accept it.

"You'll stay here and talk to Shunsui!" she whispered with an authoritative tone. Masami had no choice. After she left, Shunsui turned to Masami.

"Looks like you really take care of her. That's nice."

"Why are you here, Shunsui?"

"I received a letter saying he had died. He didn't write me saying he was sick. Did he write you?"

"I don't know... he used to write you a lot?"

Silence.

"In the beginning, yes. Then he began to write less."

"I see." Masami was acting very coldly toward Shunsui. The other noticed.

"You... still hate me, don't you, Masami?"

Silence. Shunsui continued.

"I thought that after nine years..."

"He wished that I changed!" Masami said suddenly.

"What?"

"The last thing he said to me was that he wanted that I changed because he wanted that I could be happy, 'truly happy.'"

"Through your tone, I think you didn't like to hear that."

Masami started to shout:

"He liked you more! You were the smarter, the hard-worker, the polite. He agreed with everything you said! He was never on my side. Even after you went away, he continued to be on your side-"

"Masami..."

"Shut up! Now you'll just listen! Every single day you were in my house, I desired you disappeared. When you left, it was already too late. You ruined my life! My relationship with my father..."

"I really feel sorry for you now!" Shunsui stated. Then, he continued, "I never did anything to you! I just didn't want to bother Mr. Izumi and you. I'm sorry that you felt that way, but it was not my fault neither your father's fault. It was your fault! You never cared about anyone else's feelings! Everything was always about you! You always were so sure that you were right, that you were the victim, that you closed yourself in a limited world. How can you learn anything and become a better person if you refuse to leave your own world?"

"I don't have to change!"

"Of course you do!"

Silence.

"Masami, Yoshie loves you. Do you love her?"

"Of course I love her!"

"You're going to have a kid. Will you love that kid?"

"Of course I will!"

"Even if the kid becomes a different person from what you idealized?"

"What do you mean?"

"Your love is too immature! You are too immature. Can you love someone who doesn't satisfy your expectations? What if your kid be not like you? Will you stop loving the kid?"

Silence. Shunsui was leaving, but he said one last thing:

"You need to change, Masami. Not for you. But for the people you love. I know you can do it. I know the day will come when you will be able to love someone unconditionally."

When Masami returned to the hotel, he was informed that Yoshie had fallen from the stairs. He went to the hospital in which she was. Her doctor said he tried to save the baby, but, unfortunately, he didn't survive. When he visited Yoshie in her room, she was crying. He hugged her tightly and cried too.

**Three months later**

Yoshie was still dealing with her loss. Since that day, she wasn't able to play piano, her sadness didn't let. Masami was deeply sad about his lost son too, but he had to be strong for Yoshie. One night, the telephone rang. It was a call from Germany.

"Hello?" Masami said.

"Hey... it's me... Shunsui."

Silence.

"What do you want?"

"I need help. A horrible thing is happening to Catherine and my son. There was an incident... we need help." Shunsui sounded desperate.

"Why should I help you?"

"Please, Masami. I don't have anyone else. There was an incident, since then, people are dying. Everybody is dying. We have to run and hide somewhere. We can fly to Japan, then you could help us-"

"I have no interest in helping you or your family."

Silence.

"Masami, didn't you hear what I said?"

"You're just lying. Or maybe your 'intelligence' turned you insane."

"When did I ever lie to you, damn it? I need your help. My family's sake is on the line. There's something hunting us! Something... that is not from this world."

"What madness is this? Is it a new tactic to teach me a lesson?"

"I'm saying the truth, Masami! I wouldn't call you if I didn't need-"

"So, if I don't help you, you and your family will die?" Masami wasn't believing that was serious. He thought it was some trick of Shunsui.

"Yes, Masami! We'll die."

"So that's OK, I'll take the risk."

Masami hung the phone up.

**Two days later**

Masami received a letter from Germany saying that Shunsui Yukimura and his wife had died in a car accident and he, as the only relative, should go to deal with some questions.

Masami and Yoshie took the first airplane to Germany. He didn't talk at all almost the entire trip. _He's dead_, he thought. _He said he was going to die... he said his family..._

Masami was in deep despair. He began to tremble and cry in the middle of the airplane.

"Masami, what is it?" Yoshie asked concerned.

"He begged me... he said he and his family were in danger... he begged my help..."

"What are you talking about?"

"He called me... he said that something horrible happened... he said that they were being hunted... I didn't believe... now he's dead..."

"Masami..."

"What kind of person does something like that?... I hated him so much... I created a version of him in my mind... I thought he was just a parasite... a curse in my life... I always treated him so bad... And he trusted me... he asked for my help... I just let he and his family die..."

" ..."

"I'm the worst creature that ever lived in this world! I'm more than a spoiled child! I'm more than selfish! I'm a murderer!"

Yoshie held her husband's hand. She didn't say anything. They stayed like that for a long while.

When they entered the Beleuchtung Institution, they were received by an old man called Dr. Schultz. Yoshie recognized the name. He led them to his office. The couple didn't pay attention to anything ahead of them. The halls, the laboratories, the researchers, the buildings... it was as if nothing existed to them. When they reached Schultz's office, the man invited them to sit across from him.

"Well," began Schultz, "Dr. Shunsui Yukimura and his wife, Dr. Catherine Renoir, died a couple of days ago. Their car was found severely damaged and they were found dead inside. The cause of the accident has not been deciphered yet."

"Shunsui had called me... he said something about an incident... and something was hunting him and his family."

"There's no evidence of such a thing!" Schultz almost yelled at them, "That was probably just paranoia."

"He wasn't paranoid! Are you trying to hide something from us? You don't know how hard it is -" Masami was getting angry. Schultz interrupted:

"Enough! I already have to deal with a lot of paranoid scientists these days! A small incident without consequences happened and then-" Dr. Schultz stopped talking abruptly. He realized he had talked more than he wanted. "Anyway. Your relative had a baby son. You can take care of him or give his guard to someone in the institution."

"A son? Wasn't he with them in the accident?" Yoshie asked.

"A friend of them, Joseph Weiss, said that he was with the kid. I'll give you his address, it's here, in the institution. The kid is with him."

Masami and Yoshie went there. Dr. Weiss received them. He seemed devastated and exhausted. The Izumis explained who they were and what they were doing there.

"I see." Dr. Weiss said, "Catherine's son is in the bedroom. I put him to sleep with my daughter Sabine in the crib. She's just two months older than him."

"Was he with you when they died?" Yoshie asked.

"That was what I told Dr. Schultz." Weiss seemed bothered with something, "The truth is that he was brought to me by a stranger wearing a black coat. He said he had saved the child and asked me to take care of him because there was someone dangerous after him. I found that story would sound absurd, and as Dr. Schultz has been under so much stress with his son's death and everything... I lied."

Masami processed the information slowly.

"Can we see him?" Yoshie asked. Weiss agreed and took them to the room where the baby boy was sleeping next to a dark-haired baby girl.

"My wife is in the hospital, she's sick." Weiss continued to talk, "It's hard for me to take care of two kids at the same time. But I also don't want to let Catherine's son in an orphanage. I just don't know what to do with Koushiro."

Yoshie and Masami went pale.

"The boy's name... is Koushiro?" Masami asked.

"Yes. Shunsui had convinced Catherine to give this name to the kid. It was the name of someone important to him."

Masami called Yoshie in particular to talk. He was serious.

"I want to adopt him." Masami said.

Yoshie was speechless.

"I know we just lost our baby. I know your pain hasn't disappeared, but..." Masami was talking fast.

"Are you going to do this just because of guilt? You don't have the right to bring an innocent child to your messed life just to make you feel better." Yoshie said severely, "I don't agree-"

"It's not to make me feel better. And I'm not going to ask you to join me if you don't want to. I... want to do something good for that kid. I made too many mistakes in my life, I want to do something right. I want to be a good father for him... I... want to change... I want to become a better person."

Yoshie was in silence. After some minutes, she said:

"I'll be on your side, always! I decided that since Shunsui told me you loved me when we were kids, that day he went to the principal's office. He told me to give you a chance. To not give up on you. You disappointed me many times, but... deep down... I knew why he asked me to give you a chance."

"Why?" Masami was surprised by the revelations.

"Because... he believed you could change... with the time, I started to believe in it too. Now I see I did the right thing."

"You're mistaken, Yoshie."

Yoshie didn't understand. Masami was serious.

"He wasn't the type of person who just believes in things. He knew... he was sure I would change."

**Present**

Koushiro heard all the story in complete silence. Masami was nervous.

"You're not going to say anything?" he asked.

"Give him time." Yoshie said patiently.

"You're... disgusted at me, aren't you, Koushiro?" Masami asked. He feared the answer.

"Yes." Koushiro said. Yoshie was surprised by her son's answer. Masami felt tears in his eyes.

"You did horrible things. You sure were a jerk to my biological father. What you did is hard to forgive and there's nothing you can do to erase that." Izzy was speaking coldly.

"Koushiro, try to understand..." Yoshie began, Izzy interrupted:

"You were jealous of the attention your father gave him. You were envious of his intelligence and everything else. You have no idea how disappointed I am. I always thought you and mom were the most virtuous people of the world. Since I found out I was adopted... I felt I was in debt with you...I felt I had to give my best... I had to be grateful to you."

Silence. Koushiro continued:

"But... even if you can't erase the bad things you did... you tried and became a better person. You're a really good father... I know you regret what you did... and I'll always continue to love you... and be on your side."

Koushiro was staring at the ground until that moment. When he lifted his head, his parents saw that he was crying. Koushiro noticed his parents were doing the same thing. Yoshie stood up and ran to hug her son. A minute later, Masami did the same.

"You... sure reminds me of Shunsui. I bet, when I told you this some years ago, you thought I was talking about intelligence. But I wasn't."

Koushiro was hearing.

"You're a person with an incredible gift. You are able to forgive and love unconditionally, like he was. There are very few people like you in the world, Koushiro."

"I'm...I'm not..." Izzy didn't believe he was that kind of person. A lot of people, like Mimi, had told him in the past that he was insensitive. But he didn't say anything in that moment. His father seemed to free himself of his ghosts. His mother seemed to be relieved too. Suddenly, Koushiro remembered a thing:

"You were surprised when Dr. Weiss told you that my name was Koushiro. Why?"

"I was surprised because I realized Shunsui meant what he had said to my father at the airport. He really saw him as a second father."

"I don't understand."

"My father's name was Koushiro. Koushiro Izumi."

Izzy was surprised by the information. A lot of things had happened to him in the last hours. He was still confused and concerned, but, in that moment, he was feeling really happy. When he went to his bedroom, he was feeling really exhausted too. But he turned on his computer. He wanted to make some research. He noticed there was an e-mail to him. He didn't know who had sent it, but he opened it. The e-mail said:

"If you want to know about the incident and your parents, go to Plaza Hotel in three days, at 18:00 hs. Look for the person with a white rose. Don't tell anyone.

S.W"

Izzy read the e-mail three times. Could that be a trap? But the "S.W" caught his attention. _S.W?_ He thought _Who could be? I think I'll have to find out._


	7. The association

This chapter is big too. I hope you like it. Please, review me.

**Chapter 7: The association**

The next day, Izzy woke up early. His parents had not awakened yet. It was a Saturday. The boy decided to go out, walk for a while and take some fresh air. He felt he needed that. When he was leaving the building, he met Joe. The older boy seemed concerned about something. He went pale when he saw Izzy.

"Hey, how are you, Joe?" Izzy greeted politely.

"Fine... do you feel better?" Joe asked. He was avoiding looking at Izzy. Izzy noticed Joe was acting strangely, but he decided not to bother him by asking him the reason.

"I'm better today..." That was true, but Izzy still remembered everything that had happened the day before. In fact, he still had nightmares that night.

"Joe... how are the others?" Izzy asked seriously. He wanted to know if his friends were doing something against Weisheit. He felt he should tell them what he knew, but he feared that they wouldn't believe him. He feared that they would consider him a traitor or something like that. That nightmare was still terrifying him.

"The others are fine too. Thinking of a way to defeat Weisheit. Did you remember something important from yesterday?"

Izzy didn't answer. He didn't know what to do. He hated that. He wanted to make sure that his friends would support him, would be on his side, even if they had to stand against digimons who they thought were on the side of justice. But he didn't really believe in that.

"Joe..." Izzy's question was lost before he could develop it. _How ridiculous_, he thought, _what was I going to ask? If he and the others trust me enough to be on my side? Would this happen? Would they support someone like me?_

"Is there something bothering you, Izzy? You can tell me."

Deep down, Izzy wanted to tell. He had always seen Joe and the others as reliable people, after all. _I shouldn't have doubts about them. I know them, damn it! What kind of person doesn't trust his friends? But Weisheit said to not tell... and there's the risk of they're being controlled by Unschuld... even if they're not, do I have the right to put them in such a dangerous situation just to have some support? Unschuld and her followers could kill my friends... as they killed... _Izzy remembered what he had heard about his birth parents. Against his will, some tears fell from his eyes. He tried to hide them, but Joe noticed.

"Izzy, please tell me what's wrong! Did you remember something? What happened to you?" Joe asked, concerned. Izzy walked quickly to get away from Joe, saying just "I'm fine."

_I'm fine... why do I always say this?... I didn't say that because of my concerns about Unschuld... I just wanted Joe to stop making me questions. He was worried about me. Everybody must be worried. My friends... my parents... even if I try to keep my problems to me, people worry about me. They're all good people, I should be ashamed of thinking that they would be against me...why do I have this fear? Why can't I just believe I'm a person that people would trust and support without problem? Why do I think that I'm not worthy of other people's attention?_

With these thoughts in his mind, Izzy walked to a nearby park. When Joe entered his family's apartment, he was feeling awful. _Izzy looked so sad and worried. He must still be confused. What is he hiding? Why didn't he tell me? But I can't blame him... the others and I are hiding things from him too._

_**Flash- back,**__** the night before in Tai's home:**_

After the digidestineds left Izzy's home, Tai proposed that they should discuss some things. So they went to his apartment. There, they were surprised by a sudden visit. From nowhere, a gate of light appeared. From it, Traum walked toward the room.

"Looks like I'm in the right place." Traum said nicely. The digidestineds were surprised. "What? Is it because of the gate? It's just a courtesy from Unschuld. Anyway, I have something serious to discuss with you."

"What is it, Traum?" Tai asked.

"Well, Unschuld believes that kid, Koushiro Izumi, is working for Weisheit."

The digidestineds were in shock.

"What do you mean?" Joe asked.

"There's no way in hell Izzy would betray us!" Matt shouted. Everybody seemed to agree. Traum just observed the reactions. _They really trust the redhead, huh? Perhaps a different tactic works better._

"I didn't say that he's doing that because he wants to. Weisheit has many tricks, it's possible that he put the redhead under a trance." Traum said.

"Trance?" Sora asked, "But we talked to Izzy earlier. He seemed OK, a little odd, but we thought it was because of the trauma."

"Unschuld said that he was working for Weisheit, she doesn't make mistakes. I suggest that you do not tell him what I'm telling you, nor anything about Weisheit. We can't take the risk of he getting the information." Traum said that trying to sound convincing.

"Are you suggesting that we should hide things from Izzy just because of a suspect of Unschuld?" Matt was getting angry, "He's our friend, he helped us many times in the past, don't you think he deserves-?"

"He's right, Matt." Kari said abruptly. Everybody turned their heads to her, "I felt something strange in Izzy earlier. I'm not sure, but I think it was Weisheit's energy."

"That guy... is he really controlling Izzy?" Tai said in disbelief. "That's unforgivable! He'll pay for it!"

"But what should we do about Izzy?" TK asked.

"Maybe Unschuld can help him." Kari said. "We should come up with a plan to take him to Unschuld without him knowing."

"So we're going to lie to him? We don't have any proof that this guy is telling the truth!" Matt said.

"Traum saved Izzy from death in that mountain! His partner, Glaube, saved us from Weisheit, who, by the way, was gathering dark energy. Oh, and I almost forgot, Weisheit's follower almost killed my sister and she is fine now because Leben, another ally of Traum, saved her. So, yes, I will believe what he says!" Tai said firmly. Matt didn't talk anymore.

"At least," Sora began, let's give Izzy some time, just to be sure. If we realize there is indeed something wrong with him... we'll do what we have to do." She was concerned about Izzy too, but, like her boyfriend, Matt, she didn't like the idea of lying to him.

"All right. I'll give you five days to decide." Traum said. He was leaving when Cody asked:

"Wait, can't you tell us more about Weisheit? We need to know better the enemy."

"I'll do that when I'm sure that you are on Unschuld's side." Traum said that looking at Matt..

Everybody started to discuss again. Joe was quiet. _Kari was kind of cold today, or was it just my impression?... Izzy... is anything really wrong with you?_ Joe wondered.

When Traum went back to the place from where he had come, a white-haired girl with a long braid and silver lines on her face was in the room.

"Friede? What are you doing here in Unschuld's room? Waiting for me?"

"Look around, Traum. Unschuld wants to talk to us all."

It was a circular room with white walls. In the center, there was a long white tissue that came from the ceiling to the floor. The tissue formed a cylinder, inside which a white light was visible. Around the tissue, were Friede, Traum and, opposite them, Glaube.

"What about Leben?" Traum asked. Friede simply said "As if she ever shows up when master Unschuld calls."

"She deserved to be punished." Glaube said coldly. Traum made a joke:

"Sure, and the idiot who was almost killed by the weakest one in the family must be able to defeat the strongest digimon after Unschuld."

Glaube got mad at Traum and was going to beat him when a voice came from the tissue.

"Enough with this!"

"But, Lady Unschuld..." Glaube began.

"Master said 'enough,' so you should obey!" Friede said. Traum whispered "brat" to her.

"Traum, how was your conversation with the digidestineds?" Unschuld asked.

"They were resistent to the idea of the Heart's keeper betraying them. So I had to say that the boy was under Weisheit's trance."

"That's ridiculous, Weisheit has no power over people's minds... that's your skill." Friede told Traum.

"Yes, but those stupid kids don't know about our powers! Nobody knows!" Traum replied.

"Continue your report, Traum." Unschuld ordered.

"There was some resistance to this idea as well. But they eventually agreed to wait for five days in order to see if there was something wrong with the boy. If they think there is, they will give him to us."

"So, make sure they'll find something wrong with him." Unschuld ordered, "Keep an eye on the boy too."

"All right! He's a fun toy, I'll enjoy playing a little more."

"Just don't 'break' him, like you did with your last doll!" Friede said with sarcasm. Glaube was troubled about something.

"Lady Unschuld, please give me another chance. I'm not going to fail again."

"Do you want to go after Weisheit? You have a more important mission and you know it, Glaube." Unschuld said.

"But Weisheit is..."

"Weisheit is a weak and naive fool who thinks is able to face us. He doesn't deserve our attention! The Heart is the priority." Unschuld stated.

"But, Lady Unschuld, why do you need the Heart? You're strong! I'm sure that you're stronger than all the digimons together! You can rule the Digital World and destroy the human world any time you want! Why do you have this obsession with the Heart?"

"Someone like you, Glaube, cannot understand. I don't seek power. I want the Heart because of a more important reason."

"What reason?" Glaube was impatient. He wanted to understand Unschuld's true reasons.

"Stop bothering me with your silly questions. Put yourself back to your place, Glaube!" Unschuld didn't like her follower's tone. "Go back to your mission. Traum, go watch the kid, but don't do anything unnecessary!"

"OK, don't talk to me as if I was a child!" Traum left to the human world again, through a gate opened by Unschuld.

While this was happening, Weisheit reached a cave at the end of the path he was following. There, were Persefonemon and Chainmon.

"Master!" Chainmon shouted. He was glad that Weisheit was fine. Persefonemon ran toward Weisheit and knocked his head.

"Idiot, don't make us this afraid again!"

"Sweet like always, huh, Persefonemon?" Weisheit joked, "I need you to help me with some programs, I have to go to the human world."

"What? Now? You should rest a little!" Persefonemon adviced.

"I have to go now, it's an imperative. I need to talk to a certain German doctor."

Persefonemon and Chainmon didn't say anything.

"By the way, did she come here?" Weisheit asked.

"Yes. She scolded me for throwing a thorn at that human girl. But I had to, she had hurt Chainmon with no reason!"

"Violence doesn't justify violence, Persefonemon." Weisheit said, "You can't let your emotions take control of you."

"All right. The girl is fine anyway! No need for this conversation." Persefonemon said. "Let's prepare your damn gate!"

_**Three days later **_

Izzy left the apartment fifteen minutes before 18:00 hours. His parents asked him where he was going, but, as he didn't have a lot of information about the mysterious S.W and he was not going to say he would meet a complete stranger who apparently knew about his past, he had to make up an excuse. _They would be worried_, he thought. Izzy said he was going to take a walk and didn't know what time he would come back.

"Okay, but take care!" Yoshie said.

"If anything happens, you can call us, right?" Masami told him.

"OK." Izzy said without looking at them. After he left the building, he realized he acted almost the exactly same way when Myotismon was attacking Tokyo and he and Tentomon were going to the TV station. _I talked to them... I understand them better now... I know that they love me... and I love them... so, why do I feel guilty about the fact they're worried about me? I did nothing wrong... I know that... but why do I still feel like this with everybody? I don't make any sense. I wish I were different._

When Izzy arrived at the hotel, he immediately entered the restaurant. There, he saw the flower he was looking for on a table. Sitting behind the table, there was someone whose face was hidden by a menu.

"Excuse me, are you S.W?" Izzy asked in Japanese (I don't know a lot of Japanese, so I wrote it in English).

"Ich spreche japanisch nicht." Answered a girl's voice.

_What is this? German? I don't unders__tand a word in German, what am I going to do? Wait! That e-mail was written in English! So she speaks English. How could I forget that?_

"I'm sorry. Can we talk in English?" Izzy asked. The girl put the menu down and stared at Izzy. She had a pale white skin, dark eyes, dark rings under her eyes and a black, messy and long hair. She was wearing a simple black shirt, jeans and an old brown coat over them.

"Sure." she replied with no joy in her voice. In fact, she had a deep and serious look. Izzy couldn't stop looking at her eyes. "My name is Sabine Weiss. More two people and I have an offer for you."

_Sabine Weiss?_ Izzy knew that name. _Wasn't she the daughter of Joseph Weiss? I remember my father saying that she and I..._

"YOU'RE THE GIRL I USED TO SLEEP WITH!" Izzy shouted when he remembered the history. When everybody in the restaurant stared at him he realized he had said that aloud. He turned deep red because of the embarrassment. Sabine didn't seem to bother about it.

"At least now nobody will find odd if you come with me to my room." she said. Sabine stood up, grabbed Izzy's hand and led him to the elevator. Izzy just came back from his "shock state" when they reached the room.

"Room 444?" Izzy asked.

"Yes. It was the cheaper one. What is strange, there's nothing wrong with it."

"I think it was the cheaper one because in Japan the number four is considered a bad number."

"Really? Do you believe in such a thing?" Sabine asked just by curiosity.

"Of course not!" Izzy answered quickly.

When they entered the apartment, they found two people in it. There was a skinny pale teenager with short black hair and blue eyes sitting on the ground among some machines. Lying on the couch, there was a girl with a beautiful brown skin, bright curly dark hair and green eyes. She stood up when she saw Izzy. The other boy just gave him a look, but didn't stand up.

"So, you're Koushiro? You really remind the people of the photo." the girl who was on the couch said. She seemed to be a very energetic person. "My name is Aurélia Camargo da Silva, nice to meet you!"

"Sorry, how is your name again?" Izzy asked embarrassed. Aurélia didn't seem to be bothered.

"You can call me Auri, if it's easier for you. A lot of people outside Brazil finds my name difficult. It's okay, I think Koushiro Izumi is also a difficult name."

"You can call me Izzy, if you prefer. So, you're Brazilian?" Izzy asked nicely. The guy who was sitting on the floor stood up and said rudely:

"Enough with this girly talk. Let's treat of business!"

"That annoying English guy is Charles Grayman. You can beat him if he acts badly." Aurélia said. Grayman gave her a mad look.

"So..." Izzy decided to start talking, "you sent me that e-mail three days ago..."

"Yeah. We left Germany just today. You know, we had to make up a good excuse for people to let us 'take a vacation in Japan.' Aurélia said. "That night, three days ago, Sabine received a visit."

Sabine began to report what had happened in that night:

"He said his name was Wisdom. He was a digimon. He asked for my father, but I said I didn't know where he was. My father disappeared when I was 8. Anyway," Izzy didn't believe that Sabine just had said that about her father as if it was some unimportant detail, "Wisdom wanted to know why my father had not taken care of Koushiro and let him be adopted by a Japanese couple. I said I had no idea what he was talking about. So he explained to me you were the heart of a Digital World full of monsters and there were dangerous individuals after you, commanded by a digimon called Innocence. He told me that digimons had killed a lot of people a long time ago in the Beleuchtung Institution, from where we came. So I asked him if there was a digimon named Dream, and he said there was. After that, I went to talk to Aurélia. I told her the history and she decided to help me to find you. Charles Grayman, somehow, discovered what we were doing and said he would come too because he wanted to investigate the digimons. So, here we are."

Izzy was speechless. Then, he asked:

"Sorry, can you explain again a little slower?"

"You're kind of dumb for someone who has two great scientists as parents." Grayman said meanly.

"Don't be so mean, Charlie!" Aurélia said.

"Don't call me 'Charlie!' Anyway, I'll try to explain better." He continued, "That digimon, Wisdom-"

"Wait, who's this guy you're calling Wisdom?" Izzy asked.

"That's odd. He said that he had talked to you. He said also that he had saved your life when you were a baby." Sabine informed.

"Wait, you're talking about Weisheit? Don't tell me 'Weisheit' means 'Wisdom' in German." Izzy was starting to understand.

"Yes! Like 'Innocence' is 'Unschuld' and 'Dream' is 'Traum.' Sabine answered.

"You're from the institution where my biological parents used to work? But, why are you here?"

"You're really hard to get the things, huh?" Grayman commented, "Sabine wanted to find you because she wanted to find Traum. I wanted to come because I wanted to know more about these digital monsters and the Digital World. Having such knowledge would be useful for me. And frau Schultz wants to-"

"Who?" Izzy was confused again. Aurélia smiled.

"He's talking about me. My father was a German scientist called Karl Schultz. He was the person in charge of the experiment to prove the Multiverse Theory. If you don't know, it was the experiment that failed because of an 'incident.' All the scientists who worked on the experiment died in strange circumstances. My father was the first one to die... my mother, who worked with medical research in the institution, went back to Brazil after his death. She didn't know she was pregnant. I just went to Germany one year ago, after my mother died and my grandfather, the headmaster of the institution, invited me to go. I went against my Brazilian family's will. I met Sabine by that time. I made her some questions about the incident, but she never told me anything. Just like my grandfather. When she told me all the stuff about the deaths and Weisheit three days ago, I convinced my grandfather to let us come to Japan. I wanted to know more about that... and more about my father. I just know him from photos." Aurélia took a photo in a bag and showed it to Izzy. There were many scientists with white coats in the photo.

"They're the ones who worked on that project. This is my father, Dr. Karl Schultz." Aurélia pointed to a blond man with green eyes, just like hers. "These two are Dr. Catherine Renoir and Dr. Shunsui Yukimura, your parents, right?" Izzy saw the couple in the middle of the photo. He never had seen a photo of them before. Her mother was really beautiful with her long red hair and her brown eyes. She was pregnant in the picture. His father had black hair and black eyes and looked a lot like him. Izzy never had seen people who actually looked like him before. He remembered how everybody used to say that he didn't remind his parents at all. Of course they were talking about his adoptive parents, but still... suddenly Izzy saw someone really familiar in that photo.

"Sabine...?" he asked, pointing to a woman who was identical to the girl he had met. Sabine merely said:

"That's my mother, Maria Weiss. She went insane after the incident and went to a psychiatric hospital. When I was 6, she jumped from the tenth floor during a visit and died."

Everybody was in total silence. Sabine went to her bedroom.

"She says that kind of stuff all the time." Grayman told Izzy, "We called you here to make you an offer. Since we all are interested in these digimons, what do you think of joining our association? We would work together... hey, where are you going?"

Izzy went to Sabine's room. He found her lying on the bed.

"You think I'm crazy, don't you?" she asked emotionless.

"You said... you wanted to meet Traum. Why? Traum is an evil, sadistic digimon. You shouldn't look for him."

Sabine stared at Izzy with those deep serious eyes of hers. Izzy stared back. She started a narrative:

"You know, I used to visit my mother in the hospital all the time. Everybody used to tell me how brilliant she was in the past. But every time I saw her, I just saw a frightened woman yelling at someone invisible to leave her alone. With time, it seemed she was getting better. Sometimes she seemed to know who I was. The doctors thought she could go back home. A week before her liberation, I visited her. She started to scream and begged for mercy to someone. She was suffering... and she jumped from a window. She didn't die right away. She stayed in a hospital for a week. One day, a doctor said that she was calling me and my father to go see her. My father didn't go, but I went. She said she was sorry, but she was dying. I could see that she was happy. I asked her why and she told me it was because Mr. Dream would not hurt her or anyone else anymore. She wouldn't be his doll anymore."

Izzy was speechless. Sabine continued:

"Until three days ago, I thought those words were just nonsense. But now... you probably don't understand... I don't think there's someone in the world who could understand..."

Izzy held Sabine's hand. They kept looking at each other's eyes They didn't exchange words. They didn't need to. Izzy understood. He agreed to join the association. The members exchanged cell numbers. When Izzy was leaving, Sabine appeared at the door.

"Gute Nacht!" she said.

Izzy smiled at her and said "Sayonara." They didn't realize that there was someone hiding in the shadows watching them.

_That girl_, the hidden creature was thinking, _she sure reminds me of my old doll. This will be fun!_

**So, what do you**** think? By the way, thank you, May Kat and Kaito Lune, for reading my story. Your reviews are a very important stimulus. The next chapter may take a longer time to be written, my vacation is over.**


	8. Before the storm

Long time no see... sorry about that. I had a lot of work to do.

**Chapter 8: Before the storm**

When Izzy entered his home, his parents were waiting for him.

"How was your walk, dear?" Yoshie asked, "Do you feel better?"

"Well..." Izzy pondered what he was going to say, "Yes. I think... things may work out in the end..." Koushiro didn't really want to talk about the association, it would be hard for his parents to understand, he thought. But he didn't really lie to them. Somehow, the meeting made him feel a little more confident. Even if it wasn't a friendship bond, he didn't feel so lonely anymore.

Meanwhile, Traum was observing the association's apartment from the roof of a building. Sabine was looking out a window, in his direction. _It's almost as if she knew I'm here_, he thought. _She's really interesting_. He suddenly noticed someone was approaching him from behind. He knew who was.

"What do you want here, brat?"

"Don't call me brat!" Friede protested, "I'm the fifth!"

"I know, and I'm the fourth. I'm stronger than you, so I can call you brat. What do you want?"

Friede was carrying a big bag. From inside of it, she took Tentomon out.

"Wow. Is it the partner of the redhead? What are you doing with him?"

"Lady Unschuld gave me to give to you."

"Huh, so she wants me to do some..."

"All you need to do is give him to that girl, Kari. She'll give him to Koushiro."

"What's the trick? I don't think Unschuld would just return the bug. By the way, where did she keep him all this time? I would have noticed his presence."

"Enough with this, just do what you were ordered!"

Traum got mad at Friede. How dared she treats him that way since he was superior to her? _This brat, I wish I could torture her until make her beg for mercy!_

"I'll do it later, leave the bug there."

"Stop wasting your time with those worthless humans and do your job now! It's imperative! Don't you understand? Lady Unschuld plans to-"

"Don't talk as if you really knew what she thinks. Nobody does! Besides, I don't give a damn about her plans to the human world or the Digital World! All what I want are dolls to play. Make they suffer and cry, make they wish for death, make they beg for mercy... it's so much fun... so delicious... so beautiful..."

"You're just a disgusting psycho!"

"Right! And you are a 'goodness defender,' right? At least I don't make up pathetic ideologies to justify my acts! I assume that I do things just for my own pleasure. Nothing is more important than it!"

"Whatever! Just do your job, unless you want to be punished by Lady Unschuld. By the way, Lady Unschuld also wants you to give this to the girl, it's for Koushiro." Friede gave him something wrapped in a tissue.

After Friede left, Traum kept observing the building for a while. He observed Sabine at the window, excited. _Wait for me, my beautiful doll. I promise I'll play with you soon. In fact, I'll make a big party for us! We'll have so much fun! Your companions can go too. It's always better to play with many dolls, don't you think so? And I can't forget about the redhead doll. I should start the preparations! But first, I have to deliver this damn bug! I wonder what Unschuld did to him._

The next day, someone knocked early on the door of Izzy's apartment. When he opened it, he saw Kari and Tai with something under a sheet. When they entered the apartment and removed the sheet, Izzy saw someone he really was worried about.

"TENTOMON!" Izzy hugged him, happy, "Where have you been? What happened to you? I was so worried!"

"I don't really know." Tentomon seemed concerned about something, "The last thing I remember is that light in the mountain. Today I just woke up in Tai's apartment."

"Have you found him, Tai? Thank you so much!"

"Actually, he was brought to our apartment."Tai was satisfied with Izzy's reaction. _Traum must be mistaken, Izzy seems to be OK,_ he thought, "I was sleeping, but Kari told me that Traum appeared by the night and brought him."

The big smile Izzy had in his face vanished so fast there wasn't how Tai and Kari not notice it. _He was with Traum? Did that psycho do something to Tentomon?_

"Izzy, what's the matter?" Tai asked concerned, "You went pale after I said that Traum brought Tentomon."

"No... it's nothing important. Tentomon is OK, that's all that matters." Izzy said that without thinking.

"What do you mean?" Kari asked in a cold tone of voice that bothered Izzy. He didn't remember of Kari talking like that before. "Don't you trust Traum?"

Izzy was caught in surprise, _What's with this question? What is she trying to do?_

"Why wouldn't I trust Traum?" Izzy asked, trying his best to sound calm. Kari looked at him with hawk eyes. Tai didn't know which one of them was making him more uncomfortable.

"Izzy, did you remember anything about Weisheit? Anything that would help us to destroy him?" Kari was sounding really frightening now. _She knows!_ he thought, _or better, she heard their side of the history and believed. Does Tai believe too? And the others? Joe was strange yesterday... I understand now, they're thinking I'm a traitor._

"Why don't you answer me?" Kari was becoming more incisive and Izzy more desperate. He had to keep lying, but would that work? What if his friends already were planning something against him? The nightmare reappeared in his mind and seemed even more realistic. What should he do?

"Kari, Tai... and that's Tentomon?" Mrs. Izumi entered the living room. Izzy was glad by that. "Do you want something to eat?"

"It's not necessary, Mrs. Izumi. We're leaving." Tai said, he really wanted to leave that place.

"We're not leaving." Kari said authoritatively, Tai grabbed her by the arm.

"Yes, we're leaving!" he ordered.

"In that case." Mrs. Izumi turned to Izzy, "Koushiro, can you go to the market and buy some rice for lunch?"

Izzy answered quickly:

"Yes, of course, mom!"

Kari went pale suddenly. That word...

"Almost forgot," Tai said, taking something out of his pocket, "Traum also brought your new digivice." He put it on the coffee table. After that, he and Kari left the apartment. Outside, he asked her some questions.

"Can you explain to me what was that? You spoke as if you were interrogating a criminal. Do you have any idea how scary that was? Izzy is a victim, he's under a trance, remember? I never saw you acting like that before! Kari, are you hearing me?"

Kari was staring at the floor. She was shaking.

" ...Why?... Why did Koushiro call her that...?"

"What? What are you talking about?" Tai was concerned. Kari looked at him confused.

"I was saying something?" she asked.

"Yes! You were asking yourself something about Izzy, you even called him 'Koushiro,' I never heard you calling him that.

Kari seemed even more confused.

"We're... in his building?"

"Yes, we came to-" Tai stopped talking suddenly, "Wait, don't you remember what we came to do here? What's the last thing you remember?" He was in panic, what was going on with his sister?

Kari stayed in silence for a long time, then she spoke coldly, like she was doing with Izzy:

"Don't say nonsense. Let's go home!"

She walked slowly down the hall. Tai stared at her for a moment before following her. _Kari, what's wrong with you?_

In Izzy's apartment, Izzy turned to his mother.

"Mom, thank you so much! You saved me!"

"I know, I was hearing the conversation. Koushiro, I never thought I would tell you this, but you should be cautious with them, especially Kari. The way she was talking to you... that really freaked me out."

"Izzy," Tentomon talked, "what's going on?"

"Tento... you really don't know? Didn't Traum and that other digimons do something bad to you?"

"What? But Kari and Tai said that they were the good guys. They're not?"

"We really need to talk. But I have to do a thing first. Mom, do you have a plastic container?"

"Yes!" Mrs. Izumi went to the kitchen and brought a plastic container with a cover. Izzy used the cover to push the digivice into the container and then closed it.

"I have to go to a place. Please, wait for me here. I'll explain the situation later."

"But, Koushiro..." Mrs. Izumi called him, Izzy just forced a smile to her and said "Don't worry, everything is going to be fine". Then he left.

When Izzy entered the hotel where the association was, the people were looking oddly at him. He heard some whispers among them: "yes, I heard it yesterday... he came to see the girl he used to sleep with... these kids of today, in my time..."

Izzy almost died of embarrassment. He was with a pure red face when he knocked on the door of the apartment 444. Grayman opened it and looked at him for a while.

"What's with this face? You look like a pervert. At least that's what the entire building is saying about you."

"I'm not that... it was a misunderstanding!" Izzy whispered angrily, Grayman didn't care. He looked to the plastic container. Izzy explained what it was. When Charles heard it was a thing able to make digimons evolve and was also made by Unschuld, he quickly took the container, opened it on the table, put on gloves and surgical glasses, took some of his tools and strange machines and started to open the digivice. Izzy was still at the door.

"Izzy!" Aurélia came from one of the rooms and made a cheerful greeting, "Why are you still out there, come in! Sabine is in her room."

"Thank you." Izzy said while he was entering. Aurélia was spying on what Grayman was doing and Charles was trying to hide it.

"Come on, Charlie! Let me see what you're doing! It's a thing Izzy brought, right? Are you sure you're going to use that tool, I think you should-"

Charles turned his head to Aurélia and said with a furious face:

"Listen, frau Schultz! Don't give opinions about my work! Don't bother me while I'm working and, the most important, DON'T CALL ME BY A SILLY NICKNAME AS 'CHARLIE!'"

Aurélia just laughed:

"Your face is funny when you're mad at me, Charlie."

"TAKE IT SERIOUSLY, DAMN IT!"

"Don't yell at me!" Aurélia knocked Grayman's head. She realized Izzy was watching the whole thing.

"Heh, I'm just kidding with him. He's kind of envious just because I'm the headmaster's granddaughter and my IQ is higher than his."

"STOP-" Charles was going to yell something, but Aurélia knocked his head again.

"By the way, Izzy." She started again, "Aren't you going to see Sabine? You seem to be close to her, after all... you used to sleep with her, right?" Aurélia couldn't resist the joke. Izzy turned bright red again and ran to a room. It was Sabine's room, by coincidence. He saw her looking at something out the window.

"Is there something outside?" he asked. Sabine turned her head to see him.

"I didn't see anything. It's just that it is too quiet."

"Quiet?" Izzy didn't understand. Sabine turned her eyes back to the outside.

"People say it's always quiet before the storm comes."

"You're having a feeling or something like that?"

"No, do you believe in feelings?" she asked with curiosity.

"N-no, of course not!" he smiled at her. She looked at him seriously.

"Koushiro, why do you do that?"

"What?"

"Why do you force smiles to people? You don't need to act as if everything is OK with you."

"I didn't..."

"You don't need to lie to me." Sabine was giving Izzy a serious look, Izzy could feel an immense intensity in her eyes. The boy didn't know what to say.

"You, Koushiro, seem to be the kind of person who hides bad feelings to not worry other people. You're not an honest person. You pretend to be something you are not. Why do you do this?"

Koushiro was caught in surprise by the question. Sabine was still looking at him, he looked to somewhere else.

"You shouldn't jump into conclusions about people you don't really know." Izzy was serious, he was feeling bothered by Sabine's words. The girl didn't show any special emotion about it.

"You're not used to have people looking right into your eyes, are you?"

"What does it have to do...?" Izzy was getting angry.

"You're not used to have people looking at you with attention. If they did, they would already have noticed the 'Koushiro' you show to them is not the real 'Koushiro.' The real one is hidden within you.

Izzy frowned. Sabine continued:

"You hide yourself behind a mask. You always act politely to people and seems to want to be useful for them. It's like you're afraid of being left alone if people discovered your true self, so you isolate your true self in an inner prison and don't let anyone get close. You must be a truly unhappy person."

"ENOUGH!" Izzy got really mad at Sabine, "Who do you think you are to say that I'm unhappy? You know nothing about me! You know nothing about my life! NOTHING!"

"To react like that, it means I'm saying the truth, right?"

"SHUT UP! I don't want to hear you anymore, you... you stupid, weird girl! You're the unhappy one here! YOU! I can see why your father left you! Who wouldn't?"

Izzy left the apartment 444 furious, slamming the door, even Aurélia and Charles were surprised. Sabine walked into the living room.

"What the hell was that about?" Aurélia asked. Sabine didn't answer right away. She looked to outside through a nearby window and whispered "The storm is getting closer."

"You're blind or what?" Grayman said, "It's a sunny day."

Sabine didn't say anything, she just kept looking to outside. _I know you're there, Mr. Dream_, she thought, _You've already started to act..._

Izzy walked quickly down the street. He felt tears dropping from his eyes.

"Damn it! Why am I reacting like this? When did I lose my self-control?"

_That girl.__.._ Izzy thought, _She just told me those things without any hesitation at all. Those damn eyes of hers! How could I be so fascinated by them before? Who does she think she is? She's just a lonely girl! A lonely stupid girl without family or friends! Of course she's lonely, acting like that! She should know how to treat people! She's not polite, she doesn't give a damn about other person's feelings! What was I thinking yesterday? How could I like her...? I'm completely opposite to her!_

Izzy stopped walking. _...She's everything I'm not... In the beginning... I really liked her... I really liked her attitudes... maybe I liked her because... deep down...What am I thinking? She's not brave or anything special! She's just weird and... and... heartless. That's it! That's exactly what she is!_

Izzy was still lost in his thoughts when he saw Matt coming down the same street. He saw the other boy walking toward him. _Great!,_ he thought.

"Izzy, what a coincidence finding you here! I have an important thing to talk to you..."

Izzy just kept walking without saying a single word. He didn't want to deal with that.

"Izzy, didn't you hear me? I need to talk to you! It's important!"

"I'm not on the mood of interrogation right now, OK?"

"What? What are you talking about? I want to talk to you, as a friend-"

"Stop it!" Izzy said coldly. He didn't want to pretend he didn't know. He didn't want to pretend he believed that Matt was actually worried about him as a friend._ He must think I'm a traitor too! Just like Kari and Tai. All of them must think the same! What is he doing? Trying to obtain a confession? If his mind is already made, why does he need a confession? Would make any difference if I told him the truth about what happened that day? Would he believe in me instead of Unschuld and Traum? Of course not._

"What happened? Are you upset?"

"Leave me alone." Izzy tried to go away, but Matt grabbed his arm and pulled him. He saw tears in Izzy's eyes. The redhead tried to hide them and get free of Matt, but the blond boy just kept grabbing him.

"What happened to you? Why are you like this? Tell me!"

"DON'T GIVE ME ORDERS!" Izzy yelled so loud that Matt let go of his arm in surprise. Izzy started to tremble violently. He held his head with both hands, as if it hurt, and started to sob. Matt was speechless, he never had seen Izzy like that before.

"Izzy..."

"STOP TALKING! I DON'T WANT TO HEAR YOU! I... I can't stand it... I can't stand it anymore... why am I crying like this?... I can't stop it, how pathetic am I?... Traum was right about me, I'm just a weak, worthless and pathetic child..."

Matt wasn't believing in what he was hearing. Izzy seemed to lose his self-control more and more.

"You know, Matt? I don't have the right to blame you guys for considering me a traitor... who would trust someone like me, anyway? Who would see me as a friend, seriously?... I should just let Unschuld take me and kill me, whatever... what difference it would make to anyone?"

Izzy ran. Matt stayed there for a long while, assimilating what had happened.

"I need to talk to Sora. Izzy needs our help!" He ran toward Sora's apartment. _That guy..._, Matt was thinking about Traum, _he was lying to us, I knew it! Those things Izzy said... what that guy did to my friend? What is Unschuld planning?_

Izzy walked without destination for hours. He was staring at the ground, tears were still dropping. He was still shaking. _What's wrong with me? I don't do this kind of stuff... I don't yell at people... I don't get mad like I did... I don't cry without control like this... it's as if I'm not myself anymore. I've always been able to control myself. I've always been able to avoid anyone noticing my problems... It's better not to go home yet. If mom and dad see me like this, they would worry about me and make me questions... I don't feel I could just force a smile and say "everything is fine!" this time. I didn't seriously believe in that when I said it earlier... it was a thing I wanted to believe... I just wanted some hope...pathetic._

When Izzy realized, it was getting dark and he was in a park a little away from his home. He felt tired, so he lay on a bench. He closed his eyes. He saw himself in a completely dark place. Suddenly, a light was lit, illuminating a person a few meters ahead. Izzy went pale when he recognized Traum.

"Hello, Koushiro. How have you been?"

"You... where am I?"

"Don't you remember? After losing your self-control and cry desperately in front of the blond guy, you lay on a bench and slept. Now, you're dreaming."

Izzy was scared. Was Traum going to torture him again?

"Calm down, Koushiro, I just came to make you an invitation."

"Invitation?" Izzy wondered what he was planning.

"Yes, I came to invite you to play with me and my new dolls."

Three lights illuminated three poles around Traum and Izzy. In each, there was a member of the association tied up and unconscious.

"What..?" Izzy was in panic, his voice almost wasn't audible, "What did you do?"

"They're already in the game. It's a really great game that I made up. I want you to participate. I could pick you right now, in fact, but it would not be so interesting as making you try to save them. You must be fast, my toys have the bad habit to break."

Izzy went pale. _Break?_ he remembered the history Sabine had told him the night before.

"That's right!" Traum gave Izzy a big smile, "You know about my favorite doll! I wonder if the daughter will be as good as Maria was. So many bad memories in her tormented mind. How much do you think she can take?"

Traum walked toward Sabine. Izzy panicked and ran after him.

"STAY AWAY FROM HER!"

Traum disappeared of his front, reappearing behind him. He grabbed Izzy by the neck and threw him against the ground with violence.

"You're pretty worried about someone to whom you said, how was it? Ow, yeah, 'I don't want to hear you anymore, you... you stupid, weird girl! You're the unhappy one here! YOU! I can see why your father left you! Who wouldn't?'"

Izzy didn't say a word. Traum continued:

"What is it? You're feeling guilty?"

"You were watching me all the time, weren't you? It was because of you I reacted that way?"

"Don't blame me, I can manipulate minds, but I don't put feelings where they couldn't be. I maybe have played with your self-control a little, but the despair, the hatred, the sadness and everything else were born from your own heart. Aren't you despicable, Koushiro?"

Izzy didn't answer. Traum walked toward Sabine again. Izzy couldn't move. He just could watch while Traum was getting closer to her.

"STOP IT! LEAVE HER ALONE!"

"So, come stop me, Koushiro." Traum said with a big and sadistic smile. Suddenly, Izzy opened his eyes and realized that he was on the bench of the park. It was darker than before. _Was it just a nightmare? Or...?_

Izzy's cell phone began to ring. He answered and heard a female voice on the other side.

"Hello, this is from the Odaiba General Hospital. I'm sorry for calling this late, but are you related to a dark-haired teenager?"

"What?" Izzy wasn't understanding.

"A dark-haired teenager is in this hospital. It seems he had fallen on the street or something like that. He's yelling things in English, but I don't really understand. He had just three cell phone numbers in his-"

"Wait!" Izzy said abruptly, "Does he have a British accent?"

"What? Yes, I think so! So you know him! That's great, the other two numbers didn't answer, you were my last hope."

_The__ other two numbers... could they be...?_ Izzy was worried about Sabine and Auri.

"Y-you said he's yelling? Is he in pain or something like that?"

"Not exactly, looks like he's having a nightmare, but we couldn't wake him up-"

Izzy dropped the cell phone. _Oh no_, he was in true panic now, _What do I do?_

In other place, Traum was facing an unconscious Sabine. "How long will he take to realize? I think we should start playing, my doll. Let's take a look at your inner world."

**What did you think about the chapter? Please, review me. Again, I'm so sorry about being so late.**


	9. The gray man

So many things to read! My professors are trying to kill me! This fic is rather irregular, isn't it? Well, now begins a little saga for Traum. The members of the association will be in more evidence for two or three chapters, I hope you like it. But if you don't, I hope you forgive me. ^^

p.s.: Don't worry, the digidestineds will be back soon!

**Chapter ****9: The gray man**

When Koushiro entered the hospital, he went straight to the receptionist and asked about the British teenager.

"Oh, so you're the one who was called. Are you related to him?" the woman asked. Izzy went a little pale.

"N-no, not really."

"Do you know someone from his family?"

"No. I don't know a lot about him. I met him just yesterday."

The receptionist studied Izzy for a while. The middle-aged woman noticed that the boy in front of her was pale and breathless. He also seemed a lot nervous.

"Boy, are you OK?"

"Y-yes, sure. C-could you let me see him? I want to know if he really is the person I think he is."

"I don't know. Only relatives-"

"What's going on here?" a doctor with blue hair and a serious face asked. He was coming from a hall. When he saw Izzy, he recognized the boy. "Aren't you the son of the Izumis? What are you doing here?"

Izzy also recognized the man. He was Joe's father. Since the Kidos lived in the same building as him, Izzy had seen that man a couple of times. In fact, Joe had told Koushiro something about Mr. Kido being the chief of a hospital.

"Chief Dr. Kido, he came to see the British teenager. It was his number in the patient's cell phone. "The receptionist informed. Dr. Kido was surprised and glad to hear that."

"Do you know him? That's really a good new! Maybe you could help us in the diagnosis with some information. Come with me."

Mr. Kido led Izzy to a room in the end of the hall. There, Izzy saw Charles Grayman tied to the bed. He was writhing and screaming. Izzy noticed he seemed to be in deep despair, which made him feel horrible.

"It's kind of repetitive. He stays quiet for a while, then he starts to yell at someone and cry. Then he says some stuff in low voice. After that, it all starts again."

Izzy just watched Charles crying and yelling in English "SHE'LL COME BACK! YOU KNOW NOTHING! SHE TOLD ME...".

"I wish my English were better." Dr. Kido said, "Do you know what is he talking about?"

"No, I don't." Izzy answered without looking at the man, "C-could I stay with him a little, please?"

"I see, he's your friend, right?"

"Well..."

"It's OK, we can talk later. If something happens, just call someone, right?"

Izzy agreed shaking his head. When he was left alone with Charles, he sat on a chair near the bed and watched him.

"I-it's my fault that you're going through this. I shouldn't have agreed in joining the association. I just involved more people in my problems. I'm so sorry... I know it doesn't make difference to say that now, but... damn it! I'm so useless! You're being tortured by Traum and all what I can do is apologize and feel sorry about it?" Izzy suddenly heard a voice.

"Do you want to save him?"

Izzy jumped from the chair. After a while looking for the source of the voice, he heard it again:

"If you want to save him, all you need to do is ask for my help, Koushiro."

"W-who's talking?"

"Haven't you realized yet? I'm not speaking, I'm just making you hear me. It's better than making you collapse and go to your inner world right now, don't you agree?"

After hearing that, Izzy understood who was talking to him.

"You're... Heart?"

"That's right, Koushiro!"

"You can talk to me like this? You always could? Why you never...?"

"It's not time to answer this kind of question." The Heart's voice sounded more serious and firm. "Do you want my help to save Charles?"

"Y-yes! You can really help me?" Izzy was astonished, but a little relieved too.

"Yes. You must remember that I'm the Digital World's heart. It's logical that my power is bigger than Traum's."

Izzy wanted to ask why, in that case, the Heart didn't stop Traum when he was playing with his mind. But he knew it was imperative to save Grayman first.

"How do I do that?"

"It's simple, you have to make him wake up. You need to stop the nightmare in which he's trapped."

"But, neither the doctors..."

"You're going to do it inside his inner world."

Izzy didn't believe in what he was hearing.

"It would take too much time until I could explain this better." the Heart said, "For now, all you need to know is that I can make your conscience go to the mind of another person. But, don't worry, you'll be able to return after the nightmare is over."

Izzy was still processing the information when the Heart said:

"Don't you think you should hurry, his nightmare is going to start again."

Izzy agreed. Suddenly he saw everything white in front of his eyes and collapsed. When he woke up, he wasn't in the hospital's room anymore. He was in a huge city. Everything in the city, the buildings, the walls, and even the sky was completely gray. Izzy felt that place was desert.

"Is this Grayman's inner world, Heart? Where exactly do I find him, this place seems huge and empty. Heart? Are you here with me?" Nobody answered. Izzy realized he was all by himself.

While this was happening, the Heart was in control of Izzy's body.

"It's the first time I'm in charge." He stared at Izzy's hands, amazed, "His conscience is in another person's mind. I'm outside now. I'm not anymore in that dark raining place. It feels... good... freedom feels good..."

Suddenly, Dr. Kido entered the room.

"Any change?" he asked. The Heart just stared at him and said a quick "no." Dr. Kido felt that something was different with the boy. He didn't seem so nervous and worried as he was five minutes ago. It was as if he was in front of another person. The Heart didn't like the doctor's look, he seemed to suspect of something.

"Is there something wrong, doctor?" The Heart asked in a nice, and fake, tone of voice, Dr. Kido just kept staring at him. _This human... he's bothering me_, the Heart thought.

Dr. Kido noticed, for a second, that the boy's look had changed, had become darker, what the Heart tried to fix immediately. Suddenly the lights of the hospital started to flicker.

"What's going on?" Dr. Kido asked.

"Chief! All the machines in the hospital are crazy!" a nurse said, entering the room. Dr. Kido went with her. The Heart smiled satisfied.

While this, Izzy was walking through the desert streets of the gray city. He saw, in the distance, a figure walking. _Could he be...?,_ Izzy was wondering before he ran toward the figure.

"Grayman!" he called. When he was approaching the other, Grayman suddenly vanished from Izzy's front. Koushiro, however, noticed that he was in a harbor. There were some tables of a restaurant near the sea. In one of the tables, there was a little boy with black hair reading a book. A tall and pretty woman approached him and the little boy hugged her happily, saying "mom." Izzy was bothered by the fact that there were only those two there... and they both were gray. _That boy looks like Grayman. So, I think this is a memory or something like that_. Izzy walked toward them, but they didn't seem to notice him.

"Mom! I'm reading the engineering book you gave me, it's so cool. I love machines! Do you like them too?"

"Yeah, but I particularly prefer theoretical physics."

"Mom! Your hair is different again! It's red! It means we're moving?" The boy asked in excitement. The woman answered, "Yes! We're going to Portugal, you'll like it, another language for you to learn, you liked to learn Japanese in our last trip, didn't you?"

"Yeah! Who are we going to be this time?" The boy's question made Izzy confused. _What does he mean?_

"Well, we're going to be Mary and Andrew Buchman. I'll be an American business woman, I already made some research-"

"Have you picked a fool, already?"

"Yeah, an investor related to crime."

"So the fool will be a bad guy?"

The woman didn't answer right away. She just stared at the boy.

"Charlie, you're sure an innocent kid."

"I'm not a kid! And don't call me Charlie! I could help you in your plans!"

"Of course not! You're just a little boy! But, tell me, do you think people are divided into good and bad?"

"Yes. It's not like that?"

"In which category you would place me, Charlie?"

The little boy went pale. He didn't expect that question.

"Y-you're not bad! You just fool rich people to get their money. But they have a lot of money, they wouldn't need..."

"But a thief is a thief. There's no such thing as a good and a bad thief! In fact, there's no difference between a thief and a real business man or a scientist or any other person. Everybody just follows their own selfish ambitions and do what it is necessary to get what they desire."

"But... there are people who want good things and people who want bad things! You're good because you want a good thing. You want to get enough money so you can raise me, right? You love me."

The woman stared at the boy again. She smiled sadly.

"That's true. I really love you. But you shouldn't have such high expectations on people! People can disappoint you, betray you... hurt you. People can do horrible things. There's no good and evil in the world. There's no black and white. The world... the people... they're gray."

"Gray? I don't understand."

"It's okay, you will understand eventually."

The two began do disappear, Izzy saw again the figure walking in the distance. He followed him until a small hotel. He entered a room where the figured had entered, but Izzy just found the little boy lying on a bed, reading his book. His mother was talking to someone on the phone, Izzy couldn't hear what she was saying. Later, she hung the phone up and put both hands on her head, as if she was concerned about something. Then, she went to the kitchen, from where she came, some minutes later, with a glass of milk.

"Here, Charlie. Drink it."

"But I don't want..."

"Drink it, please. I prepared just for you."

The boy drank it. Soon he was feeling sleepy.

"Mom, where are we going next?"

"What?"

"You already got the money, right? Where are we going next?"

The woman didn't say anything for a while, as if she was thinking about the answer. Then she forced a smile and said.

"Home."

"Home? Do we have a home?"

"...You will like it. There will be a lot of machines. And there will not be more lies or plans to get fool's money."

"Really? It sounds good." the little boy was almost sleeping, the memory was vanishing too. Izzy heard a whisper before the memory was gone: "I love you, Charlie." Suddenly, the room was back and the little Charles was waking up.

"Mom! Where are you?" he asked. He didn't see his mother. He stood up and went to the bathroom.

"Are you there?" he asked, but the bathroom was empty. His mother wasn't in the apartment.

"She must be downstairs." he said, leaving the apartment and going toward the stairs. Izzy followed him. At the reception, Charles asked where Mary Buchman did go. The man responsible for the reception answered.

"She paid her bill and went away."

Charles went pale. Izzy was surprised too.

"What do you mean? She couldn't leave... she didn't wake me up or anything..."

"She was carrying a big suitcase and some luggage and took a taxi to the airport."

"...it's a lie... you're lying."

"I'm not lying."

Charles was speechless. He ran back to his apartment and opened the wardrobe in which the luggage and the suitcase used to stay. It was empty. He searched in the entire apartment, but he didn't find anything that belonged to his mother. Tears of despair started to fall from his eyes.

"It can't be... there must be an explanation... mom loves me... she loves... she wouldn't..."

The memory was vanishing. It was replaced by a new one in the same room. Charles was looking to outside the window of the room. The receptionist opened the door.

"Andrew, there is someone looking for you." he said, letting an old man enter.

Charles just saw him quickly, then he returned to the window.

"I was told that you were left in this place alone five days ago. The owner let you stay and brought you food, but you don't get away from the window."

Charles didn't say anything. The man continued:

"My name is Albert Schultz. I'm the headmaster of an institution..."

"I know who you are. You were the first fool."

"What?"

"My mom told me that her first fool was you. She took money from your institution."

"I see. And she didn't say anything else about me or the institution?"

"What else could she say? It was just one of her plans."

Albert stayed in silence for a while, then he spoke.

"Do you seriously think she's coming back?"

"She's coming. I'm sure of it."

"You shouldn't lie to yourself like that.

"SHE'LL COME BACK! YOU KNOW NOTHING! SHE TOLD ME..." Charles yelled, but then he started to sob.

Albert approached him and hugged the boy. Charles started to cry in despair and hugged the man back. Izzy was really sorry for him.

"Why did she do this to me? Why did she lie to me? She told me that she loved me... why?"

"... She called me some days ago. She offered me some money to take you to the institution."

Charles let go of the man immediately.

"She... offered you money... to take me?"

"Yes. She told me that you were a pretty smart boy and could be a brilliant scientist someday. So, I came."

Charles was astonished.

"Of course." the boy said in a disappointed and angry tone "She couldn't just leave me alone, right? I could say something to the cops! But she also couldn't travel with me again... she... she didn't want me around! Now that she got enough money, she doesn't want to waste her time with me."

"You don't know that."

"SHUT UP! You... you don't care! You're just doing this for yourself."

"You can't talk to me like that. I didn't accept the money. You don't know what that woman did to me and to other people in the institution. I should have called the police to rest her, but I haven't! I haven't done that in order to protect you."

"CUT THE CRAP! You think I'm going to believe you're doing this for me? People only act for themselves! Everybody is... people are... so disgusting..."

Mr. Schultz kept staring at the little boy for a while, then he spoke again:

"You can't stay here forever and you don't have anyone. Your choices are to go with me to Germany or go to an orphanage. What are you going to do?"

The memory vanished. Izzy saw the figure walking, and he followed him until an airport. There, the figure disappeared. Izzy saw Charles and Mr. Schultz waiting for their airplane.

"I said that you could get a new ID, since you didn't have a legitimate one, but did you have to choice such last name?" the man asked.

"I chose this last name so I'll never forget the only lesson my mother taught me." Charles was speaking in a sad and cold tone, "There's no such thing as good and bad people. People just do things in order to satisfy their own desires... they're all the same."

"I don't really understand what this has to do with-"

"There's no good and evil or black and white or any other colors in the world. Everything is gray. Everybody is gray. I decided to be like that too." his voice now was very low, Izzy had to approach him more in order to listen what the boy was saying, "I'll live just for me. I'll do things just to satisfy my own desires."

"That's a pretty sad thing to believe. You shouldn't-"

"Don't tell me what I should or shouldn't do! I agreed in going to your institution for my own selfish reasons and I know that you have your own reasons as well. Having good scientists is good for the institution, right?"

"Well..."

"You don't need to tell me anything else. I don't need advice or comfort. I'll be strong and I'll never get fooled again by anyone."

The memory vanished. Izzy was in one of the streets. He saw a gray person in front of him. It was Charles Grayman, the one he knew. He was staring at him.

"Grayman! I found you!"

"You... why aren't you gray?"

Until that moment, Izzy didn't notice he was still "in colors."

"Listen, Grayman. This is your inner world. You're trapped in a nightmare because of Traum. I came here to rescue you. I was so worried-"

"Liar." Charles said in a cold tone.

"No, I really came-"

"Is it because you need me for something? That's right. You need the help of the association, that's why..."

"What? No!" Izzy shouted, "I was really worried! All this is happening because of me... it's my fault that Traum is doing this to you... I-I'm so sorry..."

Charles didn't seem to understand what Izzy was saying. Izzy continued:

"I don't want you to help me anymore. Any of you. As soon as I save you all, you must go to a far and safer place. Y-you'll be OK."

"It doesn't make sense... how would it be good for you letting us go? Your chances are worse if you fight alone."

"I don't care. I... I just don't want to cause misery to other people..."

A crack was heard around them. Grayman was in disbelief...

"That's a lie. People just do things for themselves... it doesn't make sense. Do you want to die?"

"No, I don't! If I died, my parents and other people would be sad. I don't want that. I don't want people to be sad..."

Another crack was heard.

"I don't want people to suffer..."

Another crack. A gray fog was approaching them.

"It will start again. The nightmare." Charles said, looking to the fog. Before it reached him, Izzy grabbed his right arm tightly.

"What are you doing, Izumi?"

"I can't let it happen to you again! I came to stop it!"

"There's no point in it! You can't make this stop, if you don't let me go, you'll just get caught with me."

Izzy stayed in silence. Then, he said:

"It's all right. Even if I can't save you... at least I'll not let you alone."

Crack!

"Why? Izumi, can't you go back from where you came?"

"I think I can, but I'm not going to let you here suffering alone... nobody should go through this... it's too cruel."

"This is illogical."

"You think I don't know it? I'm a pretty smart person!"

"If you know it, so why do you do this? What do you gain by doing this?"

Izzy didn't say anything. He just stared at Charles seriously, then he stared at the fog around them.

"I don't think I'm going to gain something. Even if I can save you, you don't need to do anything for me in exchange. All what I desire right now is that you and the others can be in safety. Even if it means my chances of surviving will become smaller... even if I end up dying and my parents being sad because of it... it may be idiot and pathetic, but I really think other person's life and happiness are more important than mine... I want to do all what I can for the others."

Another crack was heard. The gray sky started to break into pieces. A light came from nowhere. When Izzy realized, he was back to his body, lying on the ground. He stood up and went toward Charles's bed. The British was awake.

"Y-you're back!" Izzy wasn't believing, "I-I brought you back..."

"All that..." Charles was still confused, "really happened?"

"Yes. I'm so-" Izzy was going to say something, but Grayman cut him.

"Izumi, you idiot! Why haven't you untied me yet?"

"Ah, sorry!" Izzy untied him quickly and explained all what had happened. Charles wasn't believing in the story, but he knew it was true.

"I went to an electronics store to buy some things I needed." the black-haired said, "I let the girls in the apartment. That Traum... he will pay for doing this to me."

"I'm worried about Sabine and Auri too, Grayman."

"I'm not worried about them. I just need them, it's different."

Izzy didn't comment anything about what he had just heard. Instead, he said:

"I think I should go to that apartment now..."

"That's right, maybe they're still there. We have to go."

"But... you don't have to... it's my responsibility."

"Stop saying nonsense, Izumi! You can't fight that guy alone, and I still need you. If you really have the Digital World's heart inside of you, it would be really useful for my plans. And frau Schultz and the weird girl are important as well. I need all what I can use in order to discover more about the digimons. Let's go! Is this the first floor?"

"Yes."

"Great! Let's get out through the window. It would be troublesome to explain the situation to the doctors."

Izzy agreed. _Grayman... gray man...,_ he was thinking, _is he really so cold and selfish or he's just trying to be like that? Or maybe... it's what he wants people to think. He's sure a complicated person... and he has a lot of sadness in his heart_. Charles was thinking too. _This guy, Izumi, is sure a strange person! How can someone be like this? No, nobody is like this, there must be something really wrong with his personality. I wonder if he truly can trust that "heart." I have a bad feeling about that... frau Schultz..._

**And that'****s it for this week. I don't know when I'm going to write more. Anyway, please review my fic, your opinions are really important.**


	10. All that is solid dissolves in air

Hello again! Long time... I realized I didn't inform the ages of some characters I made up. So, just to make things clear:

Sabine Weiss 14 years old (like Izzy)

Charles Grayman 15 years old (Charlie is the older)

Aurélia Camargo da Silva 13 years old (frau Schultz is the youngest one, but is still one year older than TK and Kari in this fic)

Well, now the chapter begins (I wonder if people like the characters I made up). Thank you Kaito Lune and May Kat for the reviews. Vocês são demais!*_* (means "you're great" in Portuguese).

**Chapter 10: All that is solid ****dissolves in air**

When Izzy and Grayman reached the hotel, there was a big commotion at the entrance. People were talking fast, but Izzy could understand something: "That foreign girl, the one with green eyes, she went insane..." "yes, I saw, she ran to outside as if she was being chased by something" "She was yelling something in Spanish..." "Portuguese, it was Portuguese."

Izzy was going to translate that to Grayman, but the older boy seemed to understand what they were saying. _That's right_, Izzy remembered he had heard in that memory that Grayman knew Japanese. Charles approached those people and asked in Japanese:

"Did you see to where she went?"

"Was she alone? Sabine, the one with black eyes, wasn't with her?" Izzy asked in concern.

"The Latin girl was alone. The room has been checked too, but nobody was there. By the way, the room is a complete mess, looks like a lot of stuff is broken." the doorman said.

"I see." Grayman started to walk toward the stairs, in order to reach the apartment. Izzy ran toward him and pushed him against a wall.

"What do you think you're doing? We must go look for Sabine and Auri!"

"This city is too large. It's useless to look for them without information. We must investigate the apartment and search for some clue that can lead us to Traum." Grayman said coldly.

"How... how can you be so calm? They're in danger! You know them better than I do and still-"

"I thought I had told you this already. I'm not their friend or your friend. I'm in this association just because of the information I can get about the digimons. I don't care about other people... I live just for myself."

Izzy remembered what he had seen in the other's memory. He let him go. Grayman went to the apartment and Izzy went with him in silence. When they reached the door, Izzy spoke again.

"What's the point of being like your mother?"

Grayman frowned, Izzy continued:

"What your mother did to you was wrong, I understand you were hurt, but... it's not a justification to treat people like-"

"Shut up, Izumi. You know nothing about it. You know nothing about people."

"I KNOW ENOUGH!" Izzy shouted, Grayman frowned again, in surprise, "PEOPLE... there are good people, you can't generalize. And, even when people do bad things... they can learn and... become better... change."

Grayman stared at Izzy for a while, then he spoke:

"You're pretty naive to believe in this kind of stuff. Or, maybe, you're just lying to yourself."

"Lying to myself... why would I..."

"You want to have some hope. You were ready to stay caught with me in my nightmare forever... it's not a thing a hopeful person does. It's an act of despair."

Izzy went pale, he wasn't liking the course the conversation was taking.

"I... I was concerned about you... I didn't want..."

"It may be true, Izumi. But why would you risk yourself for someone you barely know?"

"I... I would do that for anyone..."

Grayman was just observing how nervous Izzy was getting, then he spoke again:

"So you would risk your life for anyone. Is it because you think your life is the least important thing in the world? By thinking that kind of stuff, you really must hate your life."

Izzy couldn't take that anymore, he punched Grayman hard, what made him hit the door. Izzy was shaking, he didn't want to do that, he put both hands on his face, trying to calm himself.

"Are you doing this to me again, Traum?" he asked in low voice, "Is it funny to watch?"

Grayman stood up without saying a word. He opened the door and didn't believe in what he saw. The entire apartment was messy, as if it had been the place of a battle. The furniture was out of their places and there were a lot of dishes and electronic things in pieces on the ground, as if they had been thrown at someone. Grayman went to his room quickly and opened his bag. He sighed in relief when he realized his things were entire. He took a laptop out and turn it on. Izzy was observing him.

"Izumi, if you're done with your scene, you may be interested in finding where the girls are."

Grayman pointed to two lights, a green and a white, in a map at the computer's screen.

"You put..." Izzy started, in disbelief.

"That's right. It's GPS. I had the idea of each of us having one in case of emergency. Seems frau Schultz is running through a street near here, wait, she stopped. Weiss... is in her bedroom?"

Izzy ran toward Sabine's bedroom, but it was empty. He noticed the room wasn't messy at all. Grayman followed him and pointed to something on the ground. It was the GPS.

"Traum came to get Weiss personally. He left the GPS so we couldn't find him." Grayman said.

"But, Auri... she's still with the GPS, and she wasn't taken by him, why...?" Izzy stopped talking abruptly, he suddenly understood what Traum was thinking.

"His target was Sabine since the beginning. You and Auri were just... he didn't bother in take you personally, he just put you..."

"We were distractions?" Grayman asked. Izzy answered:

"No, he probably thought he would have fun if he played with your minds. But you were not his priority. He didn't kidnap you because you were not as precious to him as Sabine was."

"I see." Grayman said, "He must like weird people. That girl was always alone in the institution. She seemed to not care about anything."

"Traum tortured her mother until madness. Then, she jumped from the tenth floor in front of Sabine, dying later." Izzy informed. Grayman didn't say anything about it, but he spoke again after a minute:

"We don't have how to know where Weiss is. All we can do by now is search for frau Schultz. I'll prepare some stuff before we leave."

Izzy took a glance at the room, looking for some clue. He saw there was something attached to the window. It was a small piece of paper. Izzy pick it and read what was written:

"The first act and the final act can seem different, but they always are in the same stage".

_What is this supposed to mean? Was Sabine who wrote it? Maybe Traum...__ that's it!_ Izzy understood the message. Grayman entered the room in a hurry. He was pale and speaking fast.

"We have to go, NOW!"

"What?" Izzy asked, hiding the paper in his pocket. Grayman pulled him by the arm and led him to the laptop. The green point was still in the same place.

"Nothing changed. Why are you so...?" Izzy frowned when he realized where the point was in the map: the middle of a street with heavy traffic. Auri couldn't stay on the cars's way for so long, unless...

"She was hit by a car." Izzy said in low voice.

"We have to go to where she is... she can die..." Grayman ran toward the door, Izzy followed him quickly.

While this was happening, Matt and Sora were heading to Izzy's apartment. They had talked a lot and decided to go there and say to their friend that they were on his side.

"Unschuld, Traum and the others have been lying to us. They're planning something bad to Izzy." Matt said. Sora agreed:

"This entire story is too odd. If that Weisheit was such a dangerous enemy and is being chased by them for so long, why didn't he ever show himself to us? Why didn't he ever attack the Digital World?"

"TK said that he was gathering dark energy, a lot of it. But we don't know why. For what I heard, Glaube destroyed the thing without giving further explanations."

"What about his followers? They attacked Kari."

"That's true, Sora. But TK told me that Kari and the others attacked first, the other two didn't seem to want to fight. Kari was attacked after she and the others attacked one of the digimons. His partner got mad and shot Kari. Then, Glaube showed up and asked the two about Weisheit, they refused to tell. Then, Weisheit showed up and gave them an opportunity to escape."

"A bad digimon showing himself in front of a strong enemy in order to save his followers... I never saw something like that."

"Neither do I, Sora. I told TK about it, but he didn't want to hear. He seems to believe in Traum's version. And I don't think he would ever be against Kari."

"That's true!" she said. When they reached the door of Izzy's apartment, they heard people yelling inside it.

"It was still morning when he left... now it's 8:00 p.m and he didn't send us any new. He doesn't answer the phone. Where is he? What happened to him?" Mrs. Izumi was becoming desperate. Tentomon was near, he was concerned too. The bug had a bad feeling, Izzy could be in danger, but he didn't know where he was. Tentomon didn't say anything in order to not worry more the Izumis. He wanted to call the other digidestineds for help. However, he didn't know if he could trust them.

"Yoshie." Masami tried to calm her, "He must be OK-"

"HE'S NOT OK!" the woman shouted, "If you don't remember he's being chased by dangerous digimons and his own friends! Now he's vanished for hours without saying a word and you think that 'he's OK?' WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?"

Yoshie started to cry, Masami hugged her. He was a lot worried too and realized that he wasn't able to calm his wife.

"That's enough! I'll go look for him. Even if I have to search in the entire Tokyo, I'll find my son!"

Yoshie went to the door. When she opened it, she saw Matt and Sora.

"What are you two doing here?" she asked angrily, what scared the two, "You... you know where my son is, don't you? What did you do to him?"

"Yoshie, you don't know..." Mr. Izumi tried to calm her again.

"Of course I know it! I saw how Kari looked at him earlier, how she was talking to him. As if he was a criminal... and now he's gone! This can't be just coincidence! This can't be..." she started to cry again.

Suddenly, Joe appeared at the door. He was surprised by Sora and Matt being there. He was carrying a cell phone.

"Excuse me. My father called me from the hospital, since he doesn't have your phone number. I didn't really understand, but it has something to do with Izzy..."

When Yoshie heard the words "hospital" and "Izzy," she lost her head. She took the phone from Joe's hand and started to ask about her son:

"WHERE IS HE? IS HE HURT? IS IT BAD? PLEASE TELL ME HE'S FINE!"

Dr. Kido, on the other side of the line, wasn't expecting such reaction. He had to wait the woman stop yelling on the phone in order to talk.

"Mrs. Izumi, your son is not here. That's the problem! Looks like he kidnapped a patient."

Yoshie didn't believe in what she had just heard.

"Is this some kind of joke? You're making fun of me?"

"No... wait. I don't believe it!"

"What?"

"Your son and the 'kidnapped' are back, they came with the ambulance... my gosh, how much blood!"

"...Blood?" Yoshie was in panic, she could hardly speak.

"I can't talk now. People, prepare the operation room!" he yelled at the other doctors, Yoshie was still listening "We must hurry or the kid will die!"

Yoshie let the cell phone fall. Tears start to drop from her eyes. She started to shake violently.

"... die... Koushiro... he's going to..."

Masami went pale when he heard that. Everybody was in shock. That couldn't be true. In despair, Masami asked Joe:

"The hospital! In which hospital does your father work?"

"I'll lead you there." Joe answered in a whisper.

While this, in the hospital, Aurélia was tied to a stretcher, being conduced by paramedics. Izzy and Grayman had come with the ambulance. When they found her, she was lying on the street, surrounded by curious people. The driver had run away. Someone had, already, called an ambulance. Aurélia was bleeding on the ground, but she was still moving, as if she was trying to stand up and run. She was also saying something in low voice, since she was powerless after being hit by the car.

"Não vai me alcançar... morte...eu não posso ir ainda... eu tenho que viver... o sonho dele... deles... as cinzas... não pode sumir..." (translating: you won't reach me... death... I still cannot go... I have to live... his dream... their... the ash... can't disappear...).

Izzy didn't understand what the girl was saying. But he noticed Grayman was strange. He was speechless, his hands were shaking, he walked among the people and reached the girl. He fell to his knees in front of her. He grabbed her arms in order to stop her from moving and turn the wounds worse. She was trying to escape, trying to beat him, but he didn't let her go.

"IZUMI, COME HERE!" he yelled. Izzy went without hesitation. He approached Aurélia and Grayman, the black-haired boy didn't move his head to see Izzy, he was focused on Aurélia. Izzy realized there was some water on the girl's face, but it wasn't raining. Grayman was leaning over her. Izzy understood.

"Grayman, you're..."

"Go bring her back!" Charles ordered.

"Of course." Izzy answered. _Heart!,_ he called in his thoughts, _I need you to..._

"I'm already sending you," a voice in his head said. Izzy's body collapsed. When he woke up, it was the Heart who was in control. The ambulance was approaching.

"You're the 'Heart?'" Grayman asked.

"Yes." The Heart answered, "You're the 'gray man,' right?"

"..."

"This was very irresponsible. If the girl dies while Koushiro's conscience is still in her mind, I don't know what would happen to him." the Heart said without emotion.

"...You don't sound really worried."

"You don't seem to care just about yourself right now, but I'm not throwing this on your face."

Grayman lifted his head so that he could look at the Heart. He had a serious and distant look.

"I suppose you have free access to Izumi's memories."

"You're right."

"What are you planning to do?"

The Heart smiled at Grayman.

"Why do you want to know? Are you worried about Koushiro?"

"Of course not."

"Sure! You're 'heartless!' I had forgotten. In any case, I have no intention to hurt Koushiro. I still need his body, otherwise, I would become an 'it' again."

"_Still__?" What does he mean?_ Grayman asked himself.

They didn't talk to each other in the ambulance, Charles had said that he was a close friend of the girl and the paramedics let him and "Izzy" go with her in the ambulance to the nearest hospital. It was Joe's father's hospital. Grayman was grabbing Aurélia's hand when Dr. Kido appeared and called Grayman and the redhead to talk to him in his office. _Don't dare die, frau Schultz! I won't forgive you if you die, _he thought, before letting go of her hand and following Dr. Kido. As soon as Dr. Kido closed the door of the office, he started an interrogation about the reason because of his patient had left, what he had, how he got better and what was his connection with the girl who was going to be operated.

"Well," Grayman started, "I woke up and decided to go, so I asked Izumi to untie me. Frau Schultz was hit by a car, so I came with her. Unfortunately, this was the closest hospital, so... here we are again."

"You want me to believe you just woke up? So it's just coincidence that that girl is screaming and writhing like you were doing before? I want to know the truth! Who are you? In what are you involved?"

The lights started to flicker. Dr. Kido looked to the redhead boy, but he seemed worried and surprised with the phenomenon. He stood up abruptly and went toward the door.

"Hey, where do you think you're going?"

The Heart gave a serious and mortal look to the doctor and said coldly:

"Do you want every single person in this hospital to be in danger?"

"What?"

"There's a huge danger approaching this place. If you don't let me take care of it, you will be the only responsible for whatever happens to this place."

Dr. Kido and Grayman were speechless. The Heart left the room and walked toward outside the hospital. He reached a desert street and saw someone hidden in the darkness. He knew who was there.

"I never thought you would take control of a human's body to look for me. If I was strong enough I would have left this body a long time ago." he said.

"It's not as if I'm possessing this body. I'm just controlling it from distance. The girl will not get hurt." The figure showed herself under the light. It was Kari.

"You came to pick me?" The Heart asked.

"Yes. It's time for you to return to me."

"Why now?"

"I don't have to explain this to you. You belong to me."

"I was part of you a long time ago. We were just information and energy. If I go with you, I'll be an 'it' again. Besides, you're OK by letting Koushiro die? You know he will die if I leave his body, right?"

Kari frowned, then she answered:

"That human kid means nothing to me."

"That's right! You made that clear when he called Yoshie Izumi 'mother' earlier.

Kari frowned more, the Heart continued:

"What are you planning to do? I don't think you want to kill Koushiro. If you did, you would have done it a long time ago. But you didn't make a single move since_ his_ death. That must have been a big trauma for you."

"SHUT UP!" Kari ordered angry, "I'm done with this! I'll take you right here and right now!"

"Let's see if you can."

Meanwhile, in Aurélia's inner world, Izzy found himself lying on grass. He stood up and saw in his front a big and beautiful river. There were some pavilions with letters on their walls near the river. He walked toward the buildings, there were classrooms in them. He saw a huge covered walkway that led to other buildings. Izzy saw an immense library not very far from a building called "Reitoria," what he read on a plate. More in front, there was a bridge crossing a small river.

"This place looks like a university. It's really beautiful, but where is Auri?"

Izzy walked a bit more, but he heard a strange sound. He turned his head to the left and saw one of the buildings disintegrating. It was turning to ash just in front of him. He, then, realized that phenomenon was occurring to the entire place. The ground and the solid constructions were dissolving and disappearing, as if they were built with sand. Dark and deep holes appeared at their places. The holes were getting bigger and it looked like they were swallowing everything. The walkway where Izzy was started to dissolve as well, the redhead ran from there, but the path in front of him was even worse. With no other way to go, Izzy ran toward a building called "Instituto de ciências da saúde." He entered the place in a hurry and went to the second floor through the stairs. There, he found Aurélia in front of a door.

"Auri! I found you!" he said happy, but he noticed the girl wasn't moving. She was stood in front of the door. There was a plaque on the wall where it was written "Sala professora doutora Capitu Camargo da Silva."

"Camargo da Silva, but that's..."

"Yes, Izzy." She said to him in low voice, "It's my last name. Capitu Camargo da Silva was my mother. It's a custom in UFPA to give some rooms the name of a great dead researcher."

"UFPA?"

"'Universidade Federal do Pará.' I used to come here a lot when I was a kid. My cousins and I used to play around while my mother and my uncle were teaching. Our grandfather used to bring us here too. He taught us a lot about philosophy, sociology and literature, especially Brazilian literature. I had a good time here. But now it's vanishing, just like everything in my life. All the things I considered once so strong and solid are dissolving in air. I tried to escape, I ran all I could, but it reached me.

"What did reach you, Auri?" Izzy approached her and saw there was blood on her clothes. Did the wounds she got in the "real world" reach her in her inner world? Was she in pain?

"A morte... death reached me and I fought so hard against it. I tried so hard to not be like my mother... and now I'm going to die in front of a room in her memory. It was all useless. My dreams are going to disappear just like my father's and my mother's dreams... soon nobody will remember anymore, as if they never had existed. I didn't want this. I promised myself I would not let them vanish... I promised that I would accomplish their dreams so their lives wouldn't have been meaningless."

"Their dreams?"

"My father wanted to discover new worlds, he wanted to extend humanity's horizons. At least it was what my mother used to say to me. She wanted to make great discoveries in medicine and help people in the entire world. They were happy. But my father's experiment failed and no one else wanted to help him accomplishing his dreams. He was very depressed when he died. He was working alone in a laboratory... I don't really know the details, but my mother said there was an accident with the electrical system. After my father died, my mother gave up on her dreams too. She abandoned her research and Germany and went back to Brazil to be a professor in UFPA. I'm not saying that it's not important teaching new generations, but... she was just running away. She worked all the time, she never had fun, and she barely smiled. It was as if she was already dead. When she discovered she had cancer..."

"What?" Izzy wanted to know.

"She didn't fight it at all. She was resigned to death, as if she desired it. I scolded her." tears started to fall from Aurélia's green eyes, "I called her coward for giving up on life like that, but it didn't change anything at all. She told me life was meaningless because no matter how much people work, dream and seek happiness, everything turns to ashes in the end. Death destroys everything and in a short period of time it would be as if the things that vanished never had existed. My mother told me, she told me a lot of times... 'tudo o que é sólido se dissolve no ar'... all that is solid dissolves in air."

"Auri, do you believe in that?"

"I refused to believe in that! I refused to be like my mother! I promised myself that I would prove she was wrong! I would prove people's dreams and people's lives weren't meaningless! That's why I went to Germany! That's why I wanted to accomplish my father's dreams... which became my own dreams. But... I can't even move now... I'm losing my blood and I don't even know how I got hurt. I'm losing everything."

"Don't say that, Auri! You don't understand, this is not real! You're having a nightmare because of Traum! He made you ran through Tokyo like a sleepwalker and you got hit by a car. You must have been tied up to not turn your wounds worse. Grayman is taking care of your body... and I'm here to let you free. The Heart sent my conscience here to wake you up."

Aurélia didn't know what to say, but a question appeared in her mind:

"If I was hit by a car, my life is in risk. What would happen to you if your conscience is in my mind and I die?"

Izzy didn't expect that question.

"I... didn't think about it. But, I wouldn't let you stuck here even if it meant I'd have to risk my life."

"Risking your life for someone you barely know. You're a very special person, Izzy."

Suddenly the walls around them started to dissolve quickly, the ground was disappearing too. Soon, they would fall into a deep and dark hole, which had already swallowed the rest of Aurélia's inner world.

"That's it! We're going to die here." she said in resignation.

"Don't say that, this is not real! You can't give up now, Auri."

"There's nothing I can do now. I can't fight anymore... it's meaningless..."

"STOP SAYING THIS STUFF!" Izzy shouted at her, "Are you going back on your words now? It's true that I barely know you, but I thought you were stronger."

"...Izzy?" Izzy's words disturbed Aurélia.

"You can't give up on your life when you mean something to someone, when there are people waiting for you." Izzy said.

"Waiting for me?"

"You have a grandfather in Germany, right? And a family in Brazil. And Grayman... I used to think he didn't care about anyone, but when he saw you hurt... I can't tell for sure, but he seemed desperate. You and he have a bond, how is he going to be if you die?"

Aurélia didn't say a single word. The void was coming closer to them.

"It's true." she said, "I can't give up. I know how it is to the people who stay... how they suffer... I suffered so much when my mother gave up... and I promised..."

The ground vanished, Izzy grabbed Auri's arm before they fell into the hole.

"I promised I wouldn't be like her!"

In Dr. Kido's office, Charles didn't give him any clearer information. Suddenly a doctor entered the room and said:

"The operation was a success! She'll live."

Charles was deeply relieved. He asked if he could see her, the doctor said she was resting in a room, but she was already out of danger, so he could go. After hearing the number of the room, Grayman went straight to there.

"There's nothing more beautiful than young love, don't you think, chief?" the doctor said after Grayman had gone.

"I don't know what they are to each other. But she seemed to be really important to him. I think I'll try to get information from him later... what is that?"

Dr. Kido pointed to outside the window. A strong light was coming from a street near the hospital. In that street, the Heart was trying to escape from Kari. He tried to use some of his power, but since Izzy's human body was too fragile, all the Heart could do was getting hurt. Izzy's arms were bleeding and he was breathing with difficulty. The pink light which was surrounding Kari reached the Heart. He couldn't move. The girl approached him.

"I told you I was going to take you."

"Damn it, if at least Koushiro weren't so weak... if I didn't depend on him so much..."

The Heart collapsed, Kari didn't expect that. When the boy in front of her woke up again, something was different.

"I'm back... it means I could save Auri. Wait, where am I?"

Izzy realized that he was in a desert street, immobilized by a strange light and Kari was in front of him.

"Kari, what's going on? What are you doing to me?"

Kari frowned.

"Koushiro? Is it you?"

"Yes, of course!" Izzy said. He noticed that there was something strange with Kari, she didn't seem herself. Kari seemed to be in internal conflict. _I went this far. I can't go back now. I have to... but, Koushiro... no, he's nothing to me. I'm not her! I never was! He means nothing, he's just the keeper of the heart. I need it back! I'll take it back!_

The light became stronger, Izzy felt his body getting hotter, as if he was going to burn. The pain was terrible, he was screaming, but suddenly it all stopped. Izzy was free. Kari was on her knees and was staring at the ground.

"I can't..." she was speaking to herself in a very low voice, she was shaking too, "Why?... He's nothing... that woman... that damn woman, even after death, she still..."

Izzy was worried about Kari, but he knew it would be dangerous to get closer to someone who had just tried to kill him, if that's what she was doing. But Izzy realized he was OK, despite some wounds on his arms.

"Koushiro, run!" he heard the Heart's voice in his head.

"But, Kari..."

"Don't be silly, it wasn't the girl named 'Kari' who was attacking you. But there's no time to discuss this right now. There's still one person in danger, remember?"

Izzy had forgotten about Sabine. She had been taken by Traum and Izzy knew where they were.

"But, I should first go to the hospital and-"

"Idiot! Don't put more people into this! We can take care of Traum."

Izzy wasn't very sure about it, but he decided to trust the Heart. He left Kari there and went toward the place where Traum and Sabine were. When Kari, herself, regained consciousness, she noticed she was very far from her home.

"Where am I? How did I get here? My face is wet... was I crying?"

In the place where Traum and Sabine were, the digimon was staring at his rings.

"Koushiro was able to bring those two back. He even deciphered the message I left to him, as I expected. Now he's coming here alone. I couldn't be more satisfied. The real fun will start soon." he told himself. Meanwhile, in Izzy's inner world, it was raining. The Heart was on the top of a ruin, staring into the darkness.

_Traum is near...the 'fourth'...he's strong. I can't let this opportunity pass. Soon, I'll be out of this place and I never again will see and feel this rain... this rain that I hate so much. Your days as king will end soon, Koushiro. _

**This chapter is very ****long, isn't it? I hope you liked it. Please, review me.**


	11. Fearless girl

Another chapter. Really thank you for the reviews (I didn't expect you also liked Bleach).

**Chapter 11: Fearless girl**

Aurélia woke up on a hospital bed. Charles was next to her, sitting on a chair.

"It was time to wake up, you lazy girl. While you were sleeping, a lot of stuff happened." Charles said, forcing an indifferent face. Aurélia just smiled at him.

"I'm sorry for worrying you."

Grayman didn't say anything.

"All right, frau Schultz. I still need you, after all. I hope you didn't forget that-"

"You still call me frau Schultz. Once in a while, I'd like to hear you calling me by my name."

"...You're acting weird. I've already told you your name is too complicated and there's no way I would remember it. I just remember important things." Grayman said.

"Right. Important things. I remember you talking about those things. You want money, power and status, right?"

"Of course, frau Schultz. It's what everybody wants."

"You're wrong."

Grayman looked to her when she said that. Aurélia was speaking in a deeply serious tone and not in her usual friendly and positive tone.

"What people want, Charles, is to accomplish things. Do something that would make some difference. Be remembered. At least, it's how people should be. The problem is that people give up too easily sometimes. Or people, simply, don't realize, or don't accept, what they truly want and search for the wrong things. That's your case."

Grayman didn't believe in that.

"You're saying that money, power and status are not what I really desire? You're so naive."

"No, Charlie. You're the naive one here. You keep lying to yourself. You keep trying to believe you don't care about anyone besides you."

"And I don't! I just care and live for myself."

"If that's true, so why are you here with me?"

Grayman didn't say a single word. Aurélia continued:

"I already told you these things. Don't you remember? And I promised I would give you what you really want."

"I don't remember hearing such nonsense. You must be hallucinating, frau Schultz. I'll let you rest a little now. You must recover quickly, the situation is not good."

Charles left the room without looking to Aurélia. He was remembering the first time they met.

He was in a library in the institution, reading about mechanic, when that girl sat next to him. She approached him and started to read his book too.

"What the hell are you doing?" he asked annoyed. She smiled and answered:

"Mechanic seems interesting."

"So go pick a book for you, I'm reading this one."

"You're mad because of little stuff like this?"

"Stop talking, I'm trying to read, you stupid girl."

"Wow, you're pretty rude. Would make some difference if I said that I'm the granddaughter of the headmaster?"

Grayman looked to her for the first time. She was beautiful, truly beautiful. Her smile was the brightest thing he ever saw. But he pretended he was indifferent about her.

"So you're Schultz's granddaughter? Now I understand why you're so annoying."

Aurélia laughed. "You're very brave! I like it!" she said. "I'm Aurélia Camargo da Silva, I'm from Brazil. My mother used to work here and she was married with Karl Schultz. After he died, she went back to Brazil, without knowing she was pregnant. She just died..." Charles looked to her discreetly, "my grandfather went to Brazil. He asked if I wanted to come with him and I accepted".

"Why did you do that?"

"I wanted to prove a thing to my mother... and to myself. I'm going to accomplish my father's dream. But, for that, I need to investigate a certain incident."

"How silly." Charles laughed, "It's waste of time to try to accomplish other people's dreams, especially if they're dead. What do you gain by doing it?"

"...I see, so what my grandfather told about you was true, Charlie."

"Don't call me 'Charlie,' frau Schultz! And don't talk all superior to me." Charles got mad at her. Aurélia seemed to have fun with his reaction. Then, she said in a more serious tone:

"I want to propose you a deal."

"Deal?"

"Yes. I want your help in my investigation."

"I don't give a damn about it."

"But you can obtain valuable information and become a rich and famous scientist. You don't want it?"

"I don't need your help to be successful. I can reach anything by myself."

"All right, so I'll give you a thing you can't obtain by yourself."

Grayman was curious now. "What would it be?" he asked. Aurélia whispered in his ear "while I live, you'll be remembered. You will be worthy for me."

Charles wasn't expecting for that. For a moment he thought that she was joking, but Aurélia was serious. He didn't answer anything and went away. He avoided her for months, until he overheard a conversation between Aurélia and Sabine in a laboratory. A conversation about a Mr. Dream, a Mr. Wisdom and monsters in other dimension. After Sabine left, he showed himself to Aurélia.

"So you were hearing hidden there. There's a while we don't see each other, Charlie."

"I'm going to Japan with you two." He said abruptly, Aurélia was caught in surprise. Grayman didn't give her time to say anything:

"I heard the entire story. It sounds interesting and I may gain something with it. Let's make a deal!"

"...deal? But..."

"I'll help you accomplishing your father's dream, or whatever, and you help me to satisfy my desires."

Aurélia was serious for a while, then she smiled:

"I already have told you I would give you what you truly want."

Grayman didn't say anything, she smiled again:

"Let's do it! We're not going to give up until reach our objectives!"

Grayman remembered all that. Aurélia changed something in him, something he didn't understand. He hated that, but he couldn't stop thinking about the deal she proposed a long time ago. _Why do you do this to me, Aurélia?_ he thought. Suddenly he heard a big commotion, some people were going toward Auréila's room. There were a couple, three teenagers and... a giant ladybug? Dr. Kido was coming with them, trying to explain something.

"You don't understand, Mrs. Izumi, Mr. Izumi. Your son is not here."

"But I heard you saying he had come back and you said something about blood!" Mrs. Izumi was almost screaming. Grayman approached them.

"Excuse me." he said in Japanese, "Are you the adoptive parents of Koushiro Izumi?"

"Adoptive?" Matt, Sora and Joe whispered to each other. The couple didn't care about the whispers.

"You know our son? Are you his friend?" Mr. Izumi asked.

"Friend? No, we're just in the same association."

"Association? What do you mean?" Mrs. Izumi asked, "Wait! What am I saying? The most important right now is to know if my son is fine!"

"Izumi is not here right now." Grayman said. Dr. Kido confirmed:

"That's what I was trying to say to you."

"Yes. Izumi went after something dangerous which was able to kill every single person in the hospital, or something like that." Grayman said in an indifferent tone. The people needed some time to process the information. Mrs. Izumi was the first one to speak:

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN? WHERE DID HE GO? HOW COULD YOU JUST LET HIM DO SUCH A CRAZY-"

"Hey, take it easy, woman!" Charles said rudely, "First of all: I'm not his nanny to take care of him! Second: It was not him who went after danger, it was the Heart."

"The Heart?" Mr. Izumi, and everybody, was speechless, "You mean, the Digital World's heart?"

"What are you talking about? I'm not understanding a single word!" Joe said, Matt and Sora were in the same situation. Suddenly, Aurélia yelled from her room:

"Charlie, what's all that noise?"

"It's nothing!" Grayman replied.

"What do you mean? I'm hearing people yelling."

"I said it's nothing, frau Schultz, damn it!"

"Don't lie to me, Charlie!"

"Stop calling me-"

"Did you say Schultz?" Mr. Izumi went pale. He walked straight to Aurélia's room, Mrs. Izumi went with him. In fact, everybody went to Auri's room.

"Do you have something to do with Albert Schultz?" Mr. Izumi asked her, in English.

"He's my grandfather, why?"

"Are you from that institution?" Mrs. Izumi asked, "Why are you here? How do you know Koushiro? What's going on? We want an explanation!"

"Yeah, so do we!" Matt said, "Izzy is our friend and it seems that he's in danger. We need to know the situation in order to help him."

Grayman and Aurélia exchanged some looks. Then, she said:

"I think it's better to tell you the entire story. Please take a sit, it's a long one."

While this was happening, Kari went back to her home. Tai was worried about her.

"Where did you go? Don't disappear like that, without saying a word! I was concerned."

"I'm sorry." she said sadly, that made Tai even more worried.

"What happened?"

"I don't know. I remember watching television, then everything went white and, when I realized, I was on a desert street alone... and crying. I looked for someone, but all I found was a piece of cloth."

Kari showed the small green tissue to her brother. Tai recognized it.

"Looks like the T-shirt Izzy was wearing this morning."

Kari fell to her knees. She was shaking.

"I'm feeling kind of weak, Tai, and sad. I'm scared. What's happening to me?" she asked, Tai hugged her.

"I don't know, but I'm here for you. I'll always be."

_Izzy...__,_ Tai was thinking, _did you do something bad to Kari? If you did_..., the anger didn't let him finish the thought.

Meanwhile, Izzy reached the little park near his home. It seemed desert, but he knew it wasn't.

"I know you're here, Traum! I know you're with Sabine! Show yourself!"

"Very good, Koushiro." a voice whispered in his ear. Izzy turned his body and saw Traum standing behind him. He had that creepy smile on the face.

"You were able to rescue those two and even deciphered my message. Not bad, not bad at all!"

"Where is Sabine, you psycho?" Izzy shouted. Traum just laughed.

"What a furious look! You're pretty confident you can save her, huh? You're not thinking it's going to be as easy as it was with the others, are you?"

Izzy didn't say a word. Traum pointed to something lying on the ground some meters away. Izzy recognized it was Sabine there.

"Why don't you go to see her? Weren't you all worried some seconds ago?"

_Is this a trap? Is it really Sabine who's there? What i__s he going to do if I go toward her?,_ Izzy was thinking. _Don't worry, everything is going to be fine!, _Izzy heard the Heart's voice.

_All right, I'm going__ to trust you_, Koushiro ran toward Sabine, Traum smiled evilly. When Izzy reached Sabine, he realized she was pale like paper. He approached her and touched her forehead, it was cold. She seemed to be dead, Izzy began to feel desperate. He relaxed a little after noticing she was still breathing. _Heart, help me to go to her mind_, Izzy asked, but the Heart didn't answer him. _Why don't you answer me? I need your help, otherwise Sabine is going to... _Izzy saw something in one of the girl's fingers. It was a small silver ring. _This ring, could it be?_ Koushiro touched the ring and felt his entire body went cold. He was being pulled, he felt he was being pulled. He collapsed. Traum laughed and approached him.

"I wonder with who he was trying to talk, maybe he just had gone insane. This will be interesting. I did what you wanted, Koushiro. I sent you to where my doll is. You two will be trapped forever in one of my inner worlds, isn't it nice?"

Suddenly, a strange light wrapped Izzy's body and he stood up. That frightened Traum. _What's this? I sent his conscience to out of his body, how can he move? And this light, this feeling... I'm sure I've felt this before... but it can't be..._

"_Viele danke, Traum."_ (translating: thank you very much, Traum) Izzy's voice said, "Now Koushiro will not be in my way."

"Who are you? What are you?" Traum was in panic. He couldn't read the other's mind. There was a massive and terrifying energy coming from him, and his eyes... his eyes were cold and terrible. There was only one creature who had ever made Traum feel so much terror.

"You're... don't tell me you're..."

"Ich bin das Herz." (translating: I'm the Heart).

"I didn't expect you had some sort of conscience." Traum laughed nervous, "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to take your code for me."

Traum was speechless.

"You mean you want to kill me? No matter if you're the Heart, you're still just a human brat, there's no way in hell you would be able to hurt me. I'm the fourth! I'm Traum! I'll make you beg for mercy! Albtraum Reich!"

A wave of fog went toward the Heart. It reached him.

"That's right! Sink into your deepest fears! Know true despair! That will teach you a lesson!" Traum shouted.

The fog was dissolved by a strong white light. The Heart was free again, Traum went pale.

"No way... how could he...?"

"You call that an 'attack,' Traum?" the Heart asked, he began to walk toward the other. _What is that thing? I can't let it reach me! I have to run and make a plan_, Traum thought.

"I'll show you, Traum, what an attack is." the Heart said.

The light began to become stronger and it spread. Traum ran from there. He didn't want to be reached by that light.

Meanwhile, in the hospital, Aurélia and Charles, and even Mr. And Mrs. Izumi, had explained the situation to the others.

"Ok." Joe said, "So, Izzy is the heart of the Digital World, but the Heart itself can talk to him and even control his body while his conscience is out. There was an incident in a German institution and, after that, Unschuld ordered the scientists' deaths. Izzy's biological parents were murdered by Glaube, but Izzy was saved by Weisheit. So Weisheit asked Dr. Weiss to take care of Izzy, but the doctor gave him to Mr. And Mrs. Izumi. So, when Izzy touched the wall of that mountain, he was sent to the central code. There, he talked to the Heart, who explained Unschuld was after him because she wanted to unite the Heart and the central code and control the Digital World. That would kill Izzy. Weisheit rescued Izzy, broke his digivice and then went fight Glaube. Meanwhile, Izzy was found by Traum and was put under a trance by him. But Traum and Glaube made us believe they were the good ones and Weisheit was the bad one, what was a lie. After that, Weisheit went to the institution and explained the entire situation to the girl named Sabine Weiss. So Sabine talked to you two and you came to Japan to find Izzy. After finding him, you proposed him to join the association, and he agreed. But Traum put you under some kind of trance and Izzy saved you. The last time you saw him, it was the Heart who was controlling the body and he was going after something dangerous. But, if Auri is fine now, it means Izzy went back to his body, but his present location is unknown. And there is still one person under Traum's power. Did I understand everything right?"

"Yes, you summed it up well." Auréila said.

"Do you have any idea how crazy all this sound?" Matt asked.

"Only someone mentally disturbed would believe in such story." Sora commented.

"So you don't believe?" Charles asked.

"No, I do. I think I've already seen strange things enough in my life to be able to believe in your story." Sora said. Matt and Joe agreed.

"It must have been so hard for Izzy." Joe said, "How could I think he was a traitor?"

"It's not the time to worry about it. Izzy needs our help now. He's alone and Traum is after him." Matt said angrily. Thinking about Traum and the things he did made him sick. Mrs. Izumi approached the teenagers and hugged them tightly.

"Thank you." she said almost in tears, "Thank you for taking his side. You have no idea how meaningful this is."

Meanwhile, Traum was running from the light. He felt his right arm burning, it had been touched by the light. He cut his arm off and it disappeared. Traum kept running until he found a big garbage can. He jumped into it and sealed it the best way he could. That protected him. After he felt the light was gone, he took a discreet look to outside and saw the boy gasping some meters away. He seemed to be in pain and had bleeding wounds on his body.

_I see_, Traum thought, _even being the Heart, he's stuck in a fragile human body. He can't use a lot of his power, otherwise he's going to die. If I could kill the kid without letting that thing see me, I'm saved. That's it! Time to finish the game._

Inside the ring, Izzy was walking alone in the most disturbing place he had ever seen. There were human skeletons covering the entire path, and there was a red river near it. Izzy realized that was blood. The sky was white, with a red sun and black clouds. There were hills made with bones around the place. Izzy was feeling sick and terrified in that place, he wanted to leave, he wanted to go back. But he knew he couldn't leave that place without Sabine.

"SABINE! ANSWER ME, SABINE!" he yelled, but nobody answered him. What was that place, after all? Sabine's inner world? _No, I don't think so_, he thought. Sabine couldn't have a place like that as an inner world. That place couldn't belong to a human being, couldn't belong to any being who had a soul._ I'm tired. I can't walk any longer. I can't stand anymore this smell of blood. I can't stand anymore... where is she? _he was becoming desperate.

"SABINE! WHERE ARE YOU?"

Izzy fell to his knees near the river. He couldn't keep going. He felt something grabbing his leg. When he turned his head, he saw a skeleton trying to take him toward the blood river. He struggled.

"LET ME GO!" he yelled, kicking the skeleton violently, but other skeletons started to move and grabbed his other leg and his arms. Izzy fought desperately, but he couldn't escape. The skeletons were taking him into the river. "I'm going to sink in the blood!", he thought when he reached the river.

"LET ME GO! SOMEONE! ANYONE! SOMEBODY HELP ME!"

He was already under the level of the river and gasping when he heard shots. Someone was firing a gun against the skeletons. He felt being pulled back to the surface. It was Sabine who had rescued him. She was carrying a shotgun.

"Are you OK, Koushiro? Are you able to stand up?"

Standing up was hard for Izzy. He was shaking so violently Sabine had to grab his arms and help him. She took something that was under her coat and made Izzy grab it. It was a gun.

"I found the guns among the bones. The skeletons near the river try to drag anything that moves, you must be alert. Let's get out of here." she said.

Izzy followed Sabine still in shock. He didn't want to think in what had just happened, he didn't want to think he was walking on a path made with human skeletons. _This is not real. It's a nightmare_, he said to himself. A part of him was happy because he had found Sabine. They could get out of that place now, right?

"S-Sabine... this place... Traum put you under..."

"This is not my inner world." she said as if it was a trivial information.

"W-what?"

"My inner world was more like an empty white building. He made me see my mother dying a lot of times. Then, he got bored because I was not scared, so Mr. Dream put one of his rings in my finger and said he was sending me to one of his inner worlds."

Izzy went even more pale that he already was.

"One of T-Traum's inner worlds?"

"Yes. I think each one of those rings leads to one of his inner worlds. He must have multiple consciences or something like that, so he could torture ten people at the same time. Maybe more, he must have an independent conscience from the rings too." Sabine was talking as if she was giving random information.

"But... we can get out of here, right?" Izzy didn't want to let his hope disappear, "I was able to save Grayman and Auri, I'm sure we..."

"We're trapped inside one of Mr. Dream's inner worlds. It's a completely different situation. I don't think we can just get out."

"N-no." Izzy was becoming more desperate, "There must be a way out of here. I came here to rescue you... there must be..."

"There isn't, unless Mr. Dream decides to let us go or dies, what I don't really think is going to happen. He probably will torture us until we 'break.'" Sabine said without any alteration in her voice. Izzy grabbed her by the arms and looked at her indifferent face.

"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU! YOU'RE SAYING WE'RE TRAPPED HERE FOREVER, WE'RE GOING TO BE TORTURED UNTIL WE BREAK AND THERE'S NO HOPE ON ESCAPING AND DON'T SHOW ANY REACTION? DOESN'T THE SITUATION BOTHER YOU? AREN'T YOU SCARED?"

"No, I'm not." she said simply. Izzy let go of her arms. He was astonished.

"Why not? You can't be so brave when you're saying there's no hope."

"I'm not being brave, Koushiro. Being fearless does not have anything to do with being brave. I'm not scared because I don't care."

"...you...don't...?" Izzy felt that he wasn't able to understand what Sabine was saying.

"I never cared about anything in my entire life, actually. I never had something important to me. Since I can remember, I was just an unwanted thing. My father took care of me until after my mother died. But he never showed any consideration about me. He avoided any conversation, he avoided to see me, even when I got hurt or when my teachers called him, he was never concerned. He was always annoyed at me. We were strangers to each other and he always made it clear that he was with me because he was obliged to. People used to pity me because my mother went insane. People used to say how wonderful my mother was. I used to go see her by my own. When she was not staring at the wall in silence, she was yelling and begging to Mr. Dream to leave her alone. When that happened, the nurses took me away from her. I remember they saying 'your mother is sick, it's not her fault, but she loves you.' I never believed in that, maybe because I never knew what that word, love, meant.

Izzy was just hearing her, without saying anything.

"People used to say a lot of stuff to me. They used to act nicely, but I always could tell they didn't like to be around me. I bother people. This never changed. Nobody ever came close to me. Everybody was always distant. Everybody was a complete stranger to me. I have nobody and nothing. Why should I care about what happens to me?"

Izzy was staring at the ground. Sabine didn't seem to care about it. Suddenly, he talked to her:

"Why did you save me?" he asked.

"You were calling for help."

"But if you don't care about anything, why risk your life for me?"

"I don't care about my life. I don't have any problem-"

"You didn't answer me! Why did you save me?"

"I would have done that for anyone."

Izzy went pale when he heard that. Didn't he say something similar to Grayman? He was understanding something now.

"Sabine... I understand you."

"...you understand me?"

"I think we're similar, Sabine."

A light surprise appeared on the girl's face.

"You try to not worry people and act in order to not be left alone. You care about people enough to sacrifice your true self. In what it resembles me?" she asked.

"You said that everybody was distant. People were strangers to you. I have people who cares about me and that I care about... but nobody ever saw my true self. You were the first one. I got mad at you because I didn't want to accept you were saying the truth about me. And I didn't want to accept you were able to see beyond the 'me' I had built and showed to people almost my entire life. You saw me, Sabine. And now, I'm seeing you and I realize we're not as different as I had thought. Our essences are similar. I feel we're close.

Sabine felt a strange thing. A thing she didn't know how to describe, a thing she never had felt before. Suddenly, they heard someone laughing. They turned their heads to the left and saw Traum sitting on a mount of bones.

"What a touching moment." he mocked.

Izzy, automatically, put himself between Traum and Sabine, in order to protect her.

"What a gentleman. You think you can protect her?"

"I'm not going to let you harm her!" Izzy said firmly, "Sabine... is important to me."

"Really? It's convenient that you put yourself in sacrifice so easily. I'll do what the first conscience told me without problem." Traum took a bone sword from the mount.

"The first conscience?" Sabine asked, "I see, so my theory was right. What did the first conscience tell you to do?"

"Das Herz ermorden." Traum said and vanished. Sabine went pale, all she could do was yell:

"KOUSHIRO, RUN!"

Izzy didn't have time to react. When he realized, Traum was in front of him. He made the sword stab the boy's chest. The sword tore his left lung and Traum moved it in order to tear his Aorta artery too. Traum took the sword out through Izzy's shoulder. The blood spurted from the wound and Izzy fell. Sabine ran to him.

"KOUSHIRO!" she cried when she reached him. Izzy was losing too much blood.

"I-t h-hurts... i-it hurts s-so m-much." he muttered in pain.

"You know what is interesting about being hurt in one of Traum's inner worlds, my dear doll?" Traum asked with a large smile, "It has an absolute rule, whatever happens to your body here, your real body will suffer the consequences too. In other words, this boy will die here and out here."

Sabine was pale. _Die?,_ that idea made she feel strange, it was like her heart had become heavier. _I don't want him to die_. She took her shotgun and pointed to Traum.

"Oh yeah, a while ago I went to the human world to have some fun. I found some hunters in a forest in the United States and brought them to this world. The interesting was that they came with the things they were carrying. I remember they tried to shoot me a lot of times, but they couldn't reach me. They ended up breaking, just like my other dolls, as you can see. But even if you could kill me someway, the first conscience wouldn't suffer anything."

"S-Sabine." Izzy called her, "R-run. D-don't let he k-kill you, please."

Sabine approached him and whispered in his ear, "Don't talk. We're getting out of here in a minute."

Meanwhile, the Heart felt a terrible pain and realized that Izzy's body had a deep wound. His left lung and the Aorta artery had been torn. The blood was spurting from the wound, the situation was even worse because of the other wounds he already had.

_This is__ not good. A few minutes ago I couldn't breath, now this. What did Traum do to Koushiro? If this stays like this, his body will die and I will be thrown out. My conscience will not last more than few minutes, I'll be an "it" again. I need Traum's code, I need the code for stabilize and make my conscience last longer. Even after Koushiro's death, I'll continue to exist. I have no choice now. It's all or nothing!_

Back to the world of the ring. Sabine ran toward a hill of bones. Up there, she turned to the direction she had come and pointed the shotgun to her front. The red sun was behind her, it was projecting shadows on the ground.

Traum appeared behind her and was going to beat Sabine. _She's looking to the other side. She'll not even know what beat her. In the mental worlds, I can move faster than anything_, he thought. When Traum was going to attack, Sabine turned to him and hit him with the shotgun. Traum lost his balance and fell. He rolled toward the blood river.

"I saw your shadow on the ground." Sabine informed, "I knew you wouldn't lose an opportunity to attack my back."

"Huh, you're proud of your silly plan? I rolled down the hill, so what? I'm not defeated yet." Traum was going to stand up, when he was grabbed by lots of skeletons.

"WHAT? What's this? Let go of me, you worms!" he shouted, trying to get rid of them, but there were a lot of skeletons pulling him to underneath the river.

"You... you killed us." the skeletons were saying, while they were dragging Traum.

"WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? LET ME GO!" Traum was struggling, but there was nothing he could do against so many skeletons.

"Those skeletons are desperate and full of hatred. I realized that if I let you go toward the ones near the river, they wouldn't let you go." Sabine said indifferent. "I think it was a good plan, after all."

"DAMN YOU! YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS!" Traum yelled before he was completely dragged to underneath the river. Sabine ran back to Izzy. He was getting cold and was deeply pale. Suddenly, the place around them started to fade away. Sabine grabbed Izzy tightly. "We're getting out now." she whispered.

While this was happening, the Heart fell to the ground. Traum was satisfied with that. The boy was losing too much blood, he was going to die in a few minutes. Traum left the garbage can and walked toward the human. He was lying, with the eyes closed, on a blood puddle.

"Looks like I won." he said, smiling. Traum kicked Izzy's body. When he did that, the Heart opened his eyes and grabbed Traum's leg. The white light started to involve both of them.

"Now, you'll not escape." the Heart whispered.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING? THIS IS SUICIDE! YOU'RE GOING TO DIE FASTER IF YOU DO THIS."

"That's fine. All I need is to absorb your code, it doesn't matter if this body dies after that."

Traum felt his body burning, he couldn't move. _No! I'm not going to die. I will survive this! I swear I will_, he thought.

The lines on Traum's body started to glow. An immense energy was coming from them.

"I'll release my full power. In your condition, you'll never be able to beat me." he said. "Even the Heart's mind is not strong enough against my full power!"

"We'll see." the Heart whispered, almost powerless.

**This**** was a big chapter. What do you think is going to happen? Please, review me.**


	12. Broken

So sorry for the lack! I was too busy! Anyway, this is a new chapter.

I hope you like it.

Thank you for the comments, Kaito Lune and May Kat.

**Chapter 12: Broken**

_I'll make him receive all the bad emotions of people. I'll give him more than he can take. Even if this brat is the Heart, in his conditions, he's not going to bear it. I've already lost one arm, and one of my rings is still with my doll. Besides, my power is being taken away quickly. I think I can just use people of this neighborhood. That's more than enough!_ Traum was thinking. The Heart was still grabbing his leg and stealing his code. The boy was losing blood quickly and his wounds were getting worse. _Just a little more_, the Heart thought.

Traum concentrated and gathered a good amount of bad emotions and thoughts from the people in the neighborhood. He didn't like to use that power because he couldn't control it and suffered the effects too. But it was all or nothing.

"KOMUNION!" Traum yelled. A massive wave reached the Heart. He was suddenly filled with uncountable number of nasty voices, memories and feelings in his mind. He couldn't deal with all that information in his conditions. _Koushiro's brain is going to melt at this state, and I... no! I'm going to make it, no matter what happens to Koushiro, I'M GOING TO MAKE IT!_

The Heart released all his energy. The white light glowed brighter than the glowing on Traum's drawn lines. _No!_ Traum felt his body burning. His purple lines were moving towards the boy's body. _It can't be! I can't die like this. I CAN'T DIE LIKE THIS!_

The light went towards the sky and was seen in the entire city. In the hospital, the people inside Aurélia's room saw it too. Tentomon felt something strange. Yoshie and Masami had just one concern in their minds: Koushiro.

When the light vanished, the Heart was still grabbing Traum. But, then, his arm let him go. The boy didn't move. Traum was still on his feet. The lines which once covered his body had disappeared. A lot of small shining particles were coming undone from his body and fading away. Traum knew he was dying. He fell and hit the ground.

_I'm cold. My vision is getting dark. So that's how it is... I wanted to play more, I wanted to laugh more... I wanted to see fear and despair in my doll's eyes. At least, the Heart is going to die with me. That bitch of Unschuld will get so angry... ha! I wonder what she really wanted to do with the Heart... and what is her true connection with him._

Sabine woke up. She looked around, looking for Izzy. But she regretted that when she found him.. She approached the body lying on a blood puddle, slowly, as if she expected she would realize it wasn't Koushiro lying there. But the closer she was getting, more sure she was becoming. When she finally reached him, she fell to her knees.

_Blut!_ (blood), she thought in despair. Sabine tried to stop the, now weak, blood flow that was coming from uncountable wounds. She put her hands on him and pressed the large and deep wound on his chest. Then, she put herself above him, in order to cover the largest number of bleeding that was possible for her. His body was too cold. She barely could feel his breathing, she barely could feel his heart beating.

"Sterben... nicht!" she whispered, as if she was begging, "STERBEN NICHT! KOUSHIRO, STERBEN NICHT!" she began to yell. She hugged him tightly, still putting pressure on his wounds. Traum wasn't believing in what he was seeing.

_**Flash-back**_

Earlier, Sabine was in her room when she heard Aurélia yelling and throwing things against the wall. When she came to see what was going on, Auri had left already. But Sabine felt someone behind her. She knew who was.

"You finally came, Mr. Dream." she said without emotion.

Traum smiled.

"You look so much like your mother. I wonder if your mind is like hers too."

Sabine turned around and looked at Traum. Her eyes bothered him. Nobody ever had looked at him with eyes like those. Fearless eyes.

"Aren't you scared?" He asked.

"No. I wanted to meet you." she answered simply.

"You what? Do you have any idea what I'm going to do with you?"

"I think that you're going to torture me and drive me crazy, then you will kill me." Sabine said without hesitation. Traum didn't like that. _This girl is weird. Doesn't she fear death or pain?_

"Why did you want to meet me?"

"There are things I want to understand. I think you're my best clue."

_Clue? How dares she? All right, so! Let's see until when she keeps her pose. I'll make her see her mother's despair, I'll make her feel despair. I can't wait for seeing her crying and with fear in her eyes._

Traum put Sabine in a nightmare and took her to the park. Before that, he went to her bedroom and wrote a little note to Koushiro. _I can't forget him, he's pretty interesting too!_ he thought. He also threw a GPS that was in one of Sabine's pockets on the ground. _Good thing I have read that dark-haired boy's memory. I just want Koushiro to find us._

_**End of flash-back**_

Traum was fading away quickly, he was still watching Sabine's despair. _I tried everything to make her cry like this. I didn't expect she would care about Koushiro so much. It must have happened while she was stuck with him in that place._ He was almost vanished, his vision was getting blank. _At least...,_ he thought, _I could see this before I died_.

Traum disappeared in a white fog. He had died. Sabine wasn't paying attention at him at all. Suddenly, she felt someone approaching. She turned her head and saw a figure wearing a beautiful white coat above a white dress. She had a beautiful face, but Sabine frowned when she saw lines drawn on that face.

"Stay way!" Sabine ordered. She was trying to not move. The figure in her front said gently.

"I came here to help him. If I don't hurry, he'll die."

"You're one of them!" Sabine said disgusted. She felt a touch on her right shoulder. She turned her head and saw Weisheit.

"Don't worry, Sabine." he said, trying to calm her down, "Koushiro is going to be fine now. Leben is here."

"...Life?" Sabine asked. "Yes," Weisheit answered. He offered his hand to help her to stand up. Sabine agreed, but, before, she whispered in Koushirou's ear, once more, what she was asking to him.

"Don't die."

Some minutes later, an ambulance arrived at the park. From it, Dr. Kido and Izzy's parents came out. The rest of the people had stayed in the hospital. The three people saw a shining green sphere with three figures around it. Yoshie almost fainted when she saw Koushiro inside the sphere with his clothes dirty with blood. Masami went pale when he realized the sphere was floating above a big puddle of blood. _Koushiro's blood?,_ he asked himself in panic. Dr. Kido was the one who made the questions, since the couple was still in shock.

"What's going on here?"

Leben ignored the doctor. Weisheit approached him and answered.

"This kid was seriously injured. Leben is healing him."

"I can see that he's seriously injured, I'm a doctor. But what happened?"

"He has lost around 70% of his blood, his Aorta artery and one of his lungs were torn. Several veins in his entire body were crashed. His bones are thin and breaking, his muscles, including the cardiac muscle, are almost in pieces and his brain... I don't even want to start talking about the damage in his brain." Leben said without turning her head. Dr. Kido was speechless.

"This kid... is practically dead." he said. Yoshie couldn't stand that. She started to shake furiously, Masami was hugging her, but he was shaking too.

"My son..." the woman cried, "My little boy... no... no..."

"This can't be!" Masami was crying as well, "I can't lose him. This can't happen..."

"Do you have anything wrong with your ears?" a voice came from behind of them. A thin pale girl with light pink hair in a ponytail and wearing a simple brown dress was coming from among some trees, two other figures were following her. "Master Leben is healing him. She's the lady of life and death of the Digital World, she never fails!"

The three people just stared at her, Weisheit yelled at the figures:

"Persefonemon, Chainmon, Ceresmon! You were supposed to check the area."

"My priority is master Leben, master Weisheit. I was worried that some enemy could appear, so I came back." Ceresmon, the one with pink hair, said.

"I saw her coming towards here, so I followed her in order to not let her get in trouble." Persefonemon said.

"I was bored." Chainmon said simply.

_They're digimons?_ Yoshie and Masami were trying to understand the situation. Leben said a thing to them.

"Your son will be completely healed. He's going to be fine."

The couple felt a deep relief when they heard that. Suddenly, some car's noises were heard.

"Oh no. I think it's the journalists. It's better we leave this place." Dr. Kido said. Weisheit took a sword from under his black coat and put it in the ground, saying "Don't worry, I've already thought about that." A flash appeared and they all were transported to other place. Except the ambulance driver, who had no idea what was going on there.

When they realized, they were in the Izumi's living room, two swords were in the floor. Weisheit took them and put them under his coat again.

"In order to transport us to this world, I sent one of my swords to this place. Since it's connected to my other sword, I can travel through-"

"Master Weisheit, nobody is interested." Persefonemon said. In fact, Dr. Kido was staring amazed how Leben was able to heal the boy's wounds. Masami and Yoshie were watching the process as well, they were deeply concerned. Weisheit noticed that there was a person who hadn't been noticed by the others yet.

"Sabine!" he called her. The others looked to Sabine, realizing there was a teenager girl sitting on the floor with her clothes dirty with blood. Dr. Kido was the first one to reach her.

"Are you hurt too?" he asked, examining her.

"No, it's Koushiro's blood. I was trying to make the blood flow stop." Sabine said with a sad voice, she was looking to Koushiro. Yoshie walked toward the girl.

"You... tried to help my son?"

"Yes."

The woman smiled sadly. She offered one hand to Sabine to help her standing up.

"It's better you take off these clothes and take a shower. I can lend you something to wear."

"You don't need to..." Sabine said. Yoshie interrupted:

"I want to. There's nothing I can do for my son right now, besides believing he's going to be fine." her voiced broke, "At least... I want to do something for you. You can even tell me what happened."

Sabine saw tears in the woman's eyes. She felt that she should agree and go with her.

"OK." Sabine said. Dr. Kido's cell phone rang. "It's Joe! He must want some news," he said. Masami stayed where he was. _How did I let this happen to Koushiro?_ he was thinking, I wanted to take care of him._ I wanted to protect him. Even when I try to do the things right, I still can't avoid... _the man looked to the ground, tears were dropping from his eyes, _Please, don't die, Koushiro. I beg you, don't die. I... I love you... son... I'm sorry._

Weisheit was looking to Masami. _So that's Shunsui's cousin? The one he tried to call that night?_

Izzy saw himself in a dark and cold place. He had been there for a long time. He couldn't see anything in that moment. That made him glad. "It's over... it stopped...," he whispered to himself. But soon he felt the feeling again, things were becoming clear around him and he could hear that voice saying happily "time to play. Time to see my doll." How many times did Izzy hear that voice? How many times did he see through Traum's eyes? He had seen Traum toying people and killing them for what looked like years. He didn't know what was happening, the last thing he remembered was being attacked by Traum in his inner world. He wondered if he was still in that place. It seemed to be Traum's mind, Traum's memories. Where could be Sabine? Izzy didn't expect to see her in his front so soon.

"...Sabine?" he asked when he saw a woman in an empty white room. No, it couldn't be Sabine, the woman was an adult. But she was identical to the German girl Izzy knew. That place... Izzy remembered how Sabine had described her inner world, it was like that place. The woman seemed scared, she was staring at Izzy. But Izzy knew it wasn't him who she was seeing. He heard that voice again:

"Maria Rose Weiss. My beautiful doll. I missed you."

"Stay away, Mr. Dream." The woman begged. "Please, leave me alone."

"Leave you alone? How could I do such a thing? I enjoy your company so much. I've been visiting you every day for six years, I gave you a little break and you already wish to be left alone?"

"The doctors... they said that I could return home... I saw my little girl, Sabine is so beautiful. All I could do was cry and hug her, I didn't say anything... I waited for that moment so hard..."

"Heh, I shouldn't have left you alone for a week. It's what I gain for wanting to have fun with other dolls. Well, now we should continue."

"Mom..." a voice was heard in that place. Izzy recognized that voice, even if it sounded a bit different because it was a six years old girl who was talking.

"Sabine!" the woman said with tears in her eyes. "She's with me again."

"Don't be stupid!" Traum said, "She doesn't know you can hear her. For her, it is like talking to a vegetable."

Sabine continued, Izzy couldn't say from where that voice was coming, but it seemed to give hope to the woman in his front.

"Mom, I came here again. These days, you acted weird. You hugged me. You were looking right into my eyes. I'm scared, I don't know what's going on or what it means. The doctors said you're getting better, you even can go home. Is this really true, mom? I can't say how it's going to be... I never talked to you. I don't know anything about you besides what people say to me. I wanted to... mom... can you hear me? You're not looking at me today. Do you know I'm here? Do you know... who I am? You must not know... or maybe you know and don't care. Nobody cares anyway. My father says to me all the time that I only exist to bother people. If you can hear me now, am I bothering you? Have I bothered you all this time? I don't know why I come here... I think I'm just being selfish, I don't have other people to talk... but it's not like we ever had a conversation. You're just a stranger to me and I am a stranger to you. But you hugged me and cried. Did you know what you were doing? What did that mean? It felt strange. Mom, please, say something to me. I need to hear something. Please."

The woman started to cry: "SABINE! I'M HERE FOR YOU! I ALWAYS HAVE BEEN HERE FOR YOU! I ALWAYS HAVE LISTENED! You... you're the only thing I care about. I love you, Sabine."

"It's useless. She can't hear you, you fool!" Traum laughed, what made Izzy feel hatred as he never felt before. Sabine's mother was crying quietly. Traum wasn't satisfied with that.

"Why are you so quiet? I have more fun when you yell. Yell to me!"

Flames came from nowhere and attacked Maria. She screamed in pain.

"STOP IT! MR. DREAM, STOP IT, PLEASE! I BEG YOU!"

"YES! THAT'S HOW I LIKE IT!" Traum was laughing loudly, "That little girl must be with a hilarious face now."

Maria stopped screaming, at least she tried. "My daughter," she said, "you can make her hear me? You always made her... hear me?" Traum made the flames go away and answered:

"Just the funny moments. Of course I never let her hear you mentioning her or worrying about her. It would not be good in the future."

Maria went pale. Then, she put a furious face "Don't you dare to get any close of my daughter, you monster!"

"Monster?" Traum laughed, "Yes, I really am a monster, aren't me? But there's nothing you can do about it. I think it's time to finish this, it was fun. Let me take you to my inner world."

Traum took off one of his rings. Maria suddenly started to walk. It was hard for her to move, but she started to walk forward.

_Her__ body... is moving too_, Izzy heard Traum's thoughts. _She's very determinate. What is she planning to do?_

Maria walked until a point and stopped, Traum suddenly realized what she did.

"Your body, you made your body walk towards the window. Why?"

"Mom, what are you doing?" Sabine's voice was coming from somewhere outside.

"I've been in the same room for several years. The few moments you were not in my mind, I could see where the things were. And I knew too that, if my mental strength was big enough, I could even move my body as my wish."

"So you walked until the window. You're on the tenth floor, there's no way you can... wait!" Traum went pale. _This woman is going to..._

"If I die in your inner world, I'm going to die for real, right? But, what happens if my real body dies while you're here?"

"Idiot! What do you gain by doing this?"

"If you die with me... Sabine will be safe. And I'll be free." She leaned forward and started to fall. Her image started to fade away. Traum was leaving her mind.

"Wait!" Izzy cried, seeing everything through Traum's eyes. "Stop it!" he could hear, from the distance, a little girl's scream. "STOP IT!"

"Izzy, you're awake!" Izzy heard Tentomon's voice. When he realized, he was on his bed, in his room, and Tentomon was next to him. The bug hugged him, he seemed to be relieved.

"Izzy, you have been sleeping for two days. We were so worried." Tentomon's voice was cracking. _Sleeping for two days?_ Izzy was trying to process the information. The door was opened and Yoshie walked in. She had heard the voices. She stared at Izzy for a while, as if she wasn't believing in what she was seeing. Then, she ran towards him, hugged the boy and started to cry.

"Koushiro... you're fine? I was so scared, your father too. When we saw you... my gosh..." she barely couldn't talk.

"Koushiro?" Izzy heard a voice coming from the door. Sabine was standing there, spying into the room.

"Sabine, come here!" Mrs. Izumi called her happily. Sabine seemed to resist the idea.

"Koushiro must rest, there's no need for me..." the girl started to say.

"Sabine... I want to talk to you." Izzy said, staring at the girl. Yoshie seemed surprised at the beginning, but then she smiled and told Tentomon:

"Let's leave them alone. They really need to talk."

Yoshie and Tentomon left the room. Sabine sat on a chair in front of Izzy.

"Sabine... we're really in the real world?"

"Yes. What's the last thing you remember?"

Izzy closed his eyes for a moment, then he said:

"I remember the pain... Traum's sword tearing... you disappeared and then I remember hearing your voice saying we were getting out..."

"I made that Mr. Dream be killed by the skeletons, so that world vanished and we came back. I found you lying on a puddle of blood, Mr. Dream was next to you. He was fading away."

"Traum died? How did this happen?" Izzy was in shock.

"According to Mr. Wisdom's eyes, his code is inside you now. It means you absorbed him."

"WHAT? BUT... BUT I... the Heart."

"So it was the Heart?" Sabine asked. A shadow crossed her face. _The Heart made all that to him_, she thought. "Anyway. You were going to die if Mr. Wisdom hadn't shown up. He brought miss Life with him. She's the second, but is on our side."

"Miss Life?" Izzy asked, Sabine replied:

"Yes, frau Leben. She healed you. Mr. Wisdom brought us, dr. Kido and your parents to this apartment using his swords. I wonder of what kind of material they're made, they seemed to be able to break the space-time continuous... after you were healed, he examined you and said to me, and just to me, about Mr. Dream's code. He wondered if you were having access to his memory or something like that."

"His memory... of course!" Izzy understood now the things he had seen. Sabine looked to him with curiosity, but decided to continue the report:

"Miss Life borrowed one of the swords and disappeared. She left behind a digimon that followed her, I think her name was Ceresmon. Miss life said that Ceresmon should follow Mr. Wisdom's orders from that moment on. She also gave him a bottle, saying there was a special healing substance in it, in case of someone else needed to be healed. She had already left when Tentomon and some of your friends, I think their names were Joe, Matt and Sora, came from the hospital."

"What? Joe, Matt and Sora? Hospital?"

"It's a very long story and I don't know if I understood everything right. In few words, now your parents and those three know the entire thing about the incident, the Heart, Unschuld trying to take you... the most incredible is that they believed in everything."

Izzy felt something warm inside him. _My friends... believed in me..._

"Continuing, when they came here, they were very worried about you and stayed by your side for a long while. Then, Mr. Wisdom asked them to take the bottle to Auri, who was still in the hospital. They took it. Yesterday Auri left the hospital and came here to see you. Grayman came too. He said that it wasn't safe for us to keep our room, so your friends offered their homes. I think they wanted to be useful. Grayman is in Matt's place now. Auri is with Sora. Your parents said that I could stay here. I slept on the sofa... it's very comfortable. You were unconscious until now."

"...All this really happened?" Izzy was speechless. Sabine suddenly said a thing:

"I almost forgot! Mr. Wisdom came with two followers: Persefonemon and Chainmon. He ordered them and Ceresmon to protect each member of the association. Chaimon went with Grayman, Ceresmon with Auri and Persefonemon stayed with me. I think she's with her master now. Mr. Wisdom is somewhere outside, probably on the roof, he said that he's watching."

"Watching?"

"Yes. It's to prevent someone dangerous from approaching you again. He also was feeling terrible for what happened, he blamed himself."

Izzy was in silence. _I made them all worry and feel bad_, the boy thought, his heart felt heavier somehow. Sabine stood up and was going to leave the room when Izzy said abruptly:

"Sabine, I have... I have to tell you an important thing."

Sabine was surprised. _Is he going to thank me for having saved him, like his parents did? I hope he doesn't do it..._

"I saw a lot of things... in Traum's memories." Izzy said in low voice, almost a whisper. Sabine sat on the bed, next to him.

"You... have his memories?" she asked with wide eyes.

"Yes... I think I've seen for the last two days... what he did to people." Izzy almost couldn't say that. It was hard for him to remember those things... to remember how those people had suffered.

"You don't need to talk about it, if you don't want..."

"I saw your mother."

Complete silence. Sabine was pale. Izzy couldn't look at her. He stared at the ground, but he knew he had to keep going:

"Right before she jumped...Traum was torturing her."

"I know this. There's no need in telling me what I already know." Izzy heard the girl saying.

"She could hear you. She always could hear you."

Silence again. Izzy looked to Sabine's hands, next to his. They were shaking a little.

"...What...did you say, Koushiro?" Sabine asked muttering, "Say it again."

"She knew that you were there. She was concerned about you. She jumped because she wanted to kill Traum... in order to not let he gets near you. Sabine... your mother loved you so much... that she sacrificed her life to protect you."

Izzy would never know for sure for how long Sabine stared at him. Her eyes were wide opened, her hands continued to shake a little. He wanted that she said something, anything. But all what the girl did was to stand up and leave the room. Izzy stayed sat on his bed for a while. _Did I do the right thing? What if I made her sad?_

Some time later, Mrs. Izumi entered the room, she seemed concerned with something.

"Koushiro, Sabine passed me quickly and without telling me anything or even looking at me at all. Did something happen between you?"

Izzy didn't say a single word. He stared at the ground for a while. Then, he stood up and walked towards the hall.

"I'm going after her. Everything is fine, don't worry." he said when he was reaching the front door. Mrs. Izumi was going to protest, after all he had just recovered from his wounds, but Izzy didn't give her the chance. He left the apartment too fast.

"Why, Koushiro?" Mrs. Izumi was speaking to herself in low voice, "Why don't you tell us what happens to you?"

The woman began to remember what had happened. Yoshie couldn't avoid to let some tears drop again.

"Why don't you tell us, Koushiro? How can we protect you? How can we take care of you if you don't let us approach?"

Weisheit was sitting on the roof of the building, watching the city. Persefonemon was with him. Suddenly, he saw Koushiro leaving the building and reported Persefonemon.

"I'm going after him, just in case." she said.

"Don't let anyone see you." Weisheit alerted.

Izzy felt a cold heavy rain falling. It was really bothering him, but the other people on the street seemed not to care about it at all. _I hate rain. I hate to feel cold...What am I thinking? This is not the time for it... I must find Sabine. How stupid I am. How could I just say all that stuff to her like that? I should know better than anyone how it is... how it is to have all the things you believe in, all the reality, destroyed suddenly. I should know better than anyone the despair of not know... this damn rain.. .it is so nasty... everything..._

"Izzy!" Koushiro heard suddenly. He turned his head to the left and saw Tai next to a building. He was with a serious face staring at him. "I was heading to your apartment. I've been trying to talk to you for two days, but your parents never let me enter. They said you weren't in conditions to talk to me."

"Tai..."

"I really need to talk to you. For Kari's sake."

"Kari? What do you...?"Izzy suddenly remembered when he met Kari two days ago, and she seemed to be possessed by something.

Tai took from a pocket a piece of tissue and showed it to Izzy. Izzy recognized it. It was a piece of the cloth he was wearing that night.

"Kari disappeared a night. When she returned, she was strange and was with this. It is yours, right? You were with her, weren't you?"

"Tai, I..."

"TELL ME THE TRUTH!"

Tai was very nervous and angry. He went close to Izzy, grabbed him and pushed him against a wall. "Were you with Kari?"

"...Yes." Izzy said. Tai's hands started to shake in fury.

"What the hell you did to my sister?"

"I did nothing to her, Tai. Please, believe..."

"SO WHAT DID HAPPEN THAT NIGHT!"

"I-I'm not sure..."

"YOU'RE NOT SURE!"

Izzy was getting nervous with Tai's yells. Tai was getting angrier with Izzy's attitude. He pressed the redhead against the wall harder and was going to punch him. Izzy closed his eyes. Suddenly something reached Tai and he let go of Izzy. Koushiro opened his eyes and saw a pale girl in a Gothic dress in front of him. Tai was lying on the ground next to Izzy, with a furious look.

"Are you okay?" Persefonemon asked Izzy. The boy barely confirmed with his head.

"You're..." Tai said, "you're that damn dark digimon who attacked my sister. The server of Weisheit. Why did you help Izzy?"

"Tai, let me explain." Izzy tried to talk.

"It's a brainwash, isn't it? That digimon made a brainwash in Izzy." Tai said.

"My master doesn't make brainwashes. He's a good digimon." Persefonemon replied.

"You seriously expect that I believe a digimon who gathers dark energy and that is the master of the digimon who attacked my sister is good?"

"Tai, wait, please." Izzy said, "It is true. Weisheit is not the enemy."

Tai was shocked. Izzy continued.

"Unschuld is the real enemy. She and her followers have been lying to you all."

"What... are you saying?" Tai was almost speechless, "You really are..."

"Weisheit did nothing to me, Tai. In fact, he saved my life more than once."

"What the hell are you saying? What about what happened in that mountain?"

"It wasn't him. Traum was the one who harmed me. Don't you understand, Tai? You and the others have been fooled by them."

Tai stared at Izzy in total disbelief. Izzy realized that.

"Tai, look at me." Izzy asked, "Do I look brainwashed to you? Do I look someone who does not know what is saying?"

Tai stayed in silence for a while, then he said:

"No, you don't look brainwashed or anything like that."

"And I'm not, Tai." Izzy said a little happier, "I don't know for sure what's going on with Kari, but I think she's been possessed by something. Something that is after me."

"After you?" Tai asked in a cold tone.

"It's a long story, but I'll explain everything-"

"When did it happen?" Tai questioned in a colder tone, what scared Izzy.

"What?" The redhead wasn't understanding.

Tai looked at him with anger and contempt and asked:

"When did you sell your soul to Weisheit?"

Izzy was in shock. He couldn't believe he had just heard that. Persefonemon seemed disgusted because of what Tai was saying. Tai continued:

"What did he offer you in order to make you be on his side and betray us?"

Izzy went pale with the question. Persefonemon got angrier and shot a thorn next to Tai, what made him retreat a little.

"Damn you! I'm not going to listen you talk things like this anymore. You have no idea how much my master has suffered for the sake of the Digital World and the human world or through how much pain this boy has gone!"

"Pain? What pain? My sister is the one who's suffering the most and I'm sure it has something to do with Weisheit! And now... now I discover that a person who I used to see as a reliable friend... is just a disgusting traitor! I don't even know why I'm so shocked. A part of me always knew."

Izzy was just hearing everything without saying a single word until that moment. But he finally talked.

"What do you mean with 'always knew?'"

"You were a weird kid without friends when I met you. I knew the other kids rejected you and you isolated yourself. I thought it was awkward, but I understood that you were just shy, so I approached you."

"You're saying..." Izzy's voice was very low, "...you approached me and was nice to me because you pitied me?"

"Don't play the victim! I'm the one who must be upset here! All this time you just used me and everyone. You pretended to help us and care about us, but it was all for your own interests!"

"My interests?" Izzy didn't know how to react, "I never... I-I..."

"What it was, huh, Koushiro? You wanted to be around me and the others because you wanted us to protect you from the kids who didn't like you? Or maybe because you felt that, by being among us, you wouldn't be anymore such a pathetic lonely kid?"

Silence. Tai continued:

"So what did Weisheit offer you? Was it knowledge? You always liked to know new stuff, in fact, you always preferred that to people. Or was it power that that monster offered you?"

"SHUT UP, YOU STUPID KID, YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!" Persefonemon shouted furiously. Tai didn't care about her. Izzy started to walk toward Tai. When they were close enough, Tai saw the other boy was with the saddest face he had ever seen.

"So that's it, Tai?" Izzy asked, "After all this time, after all what we lived... that's what you truly think about me?"

Tai didn't answer. Izzy started to tremble. Some tears began to drop from his eyes. Tai didn't know how to react. Izzy turned his back to Tai and started to walk quickly. Persefonemon went after him. But Izzy disappeared among the people, and the digimon couldn't know to where he went.

Izzy walked faster than he had ever walked. The rain felt heavier and colder. He felt difficulty to continue his way. He entered a desert street. He felt tired. More tired than he ever had felt. The weight of the water was too great for him. He fell, powerless. He started to sob on the ground and fainted.

When Izzy woke up, he saw himself in a dark place. He was in what looked like an ancient ruin of tower. Around him, he could only see some other ruins and a huge amount of water that looked like a sea. Even there, he was feeling that cold heavy rain.

"Be welcome again to your inner world, Koushiro!" someone said behind him. Izzy turned his body to that direction and saw himself.

"Heart? What...? Why am I here?" Izzy was confused and scared. The Heart walked toward him and said:

"I brought you here."

"...Why?" Izzy asked. The Heart got closer and whispered in a deep cold tone:

"I brought you here because I want to end all this misery of yours... and mine."

**I don't believe I fina****lly finished this chapter. I wrote it too quickly and didn't realize the huge quantity of errors. So I corrected them, but I'm sure there must be some yet. The next chapter may come before the new year. Izzy's true personality will be finally worked. I hope you liked the chapter and haven't given up on reading the story. Please, review me.**


	13. The good king's tale

Finally one of the chapters I wanted to write the most, I just hope you like it.

By the way, there will be a lot of flash-backs in this chapter, but don't worry! Action will be back soon. *_*

**Chapter 13: The good king's tale**

Izzy just stayed there without moving, staring at the Heart.

"What do you mean with end my misery?" he asked as if he didn't hear that right. The Heart looked to him with a mysterious face, then said:

"Stop doing this. You can't lie to me. Don't pretend you don't know about what I'm talking. It would be better if you just accepted the truth. You live a miserable and unhappy life."

_This again_, Izzy started to remember his conversation with Sabine some days ago. He stared at the ground.

_**Flash – back from chapter 8**_

"Koushiro, why do you do that?"

"What?"

"Why do you force smiles to people? You don't need to act as if everything is OK with you."

"I didn't..."

"You don't need to lie to me." Sabine was giving Izzy a serious look, Izzy could feel an immense intensity in her eyes. The boy didn't know what to say.

"You, Koushiro, seem to be the kind of person who hides bad feelings to not worry other people. You're not an honest person. You pretend to be something you are not. Why do you do this?"

Koushiro was caught in surprise by the question. Sabine was still looking at him, he looked to somewhere else.

"You shouldn't jump into conclusions about people you don't really know." Izzy was serious, he was feeling bothered by Sabine's words. The girl didn't show any special emotion about it.

"You're not used to have people looking right into your eyes, are you?"

"What does it have to do...?" Izzy was getting angry.

"You're not used to have people looking at you with attention. If they did, they would already have noticed the 'Koushiro' you show to them is not the real 'Koushiro.' The real one is hidden within you.

Izzy frowned. Sabine continued:

"You hide yourself behind a mask. You always act politely to people and seems to want to be useful for them. It's like you're afraid of being left alone if people discovered your true self, so you isolate your true self in an inner prison and don't let anyone get close. You must be a truly unhappy person."

_**End of flash-back**_

"So, you remember." The Heart said. "That girl's words really bothered you, but now it seems that you believe in that. However, you and she didn't give attention to an important detail."

"Detail?"

"Tell me, Koushiro. What do you feel about people? About your parents and your friends?"

Izzy was surprised, but he answered quickly:

"I love them. I love them all very much."

"That's not true." The Heart said coldly. "You don't love anyone. You hate them all. You hate people."

Izzy went pale. While this was happening, in Matt's apartment Matt was with Gabumon in the kitchen, cooking. Charles and Chainmon were in the living room. Grayman was working with some machines on the floor and Chainmon was watching. Matt's father would be out of Japan for two weeks. He was sent to Brazil to interview the president of that country.

"Hey, Grayman." Matt called annoyed, "Sora and Auri will be here soon for the lunch, don't you think you should help me a little?"

Grayman looked at Matt and examined him for a while, then he said:

"You're so incompetent that you can't even make a meal without help?"

That made the Japanese boy very angry:

"WHAT DID YOU SAY, YOU...? Humpf, I always thought English people were polite."

"I always thought Japanese people were smart, but it doesn't seem to be your case." Grayman said sarcastically. Matt was going to punch him for that comment, but Gabumon stopped him.

"Let go of me, Gabumon!"

"Matt, don't you remember what has happened every time you try to punch that guy?"

In fact, since Grayman and Chainmon entered that apartment, Matt and Charles had all the possible discussions and they ended with Matt trying to punch Grayman, Grayman knocking Matt down, punching him and, then, calling him "pathetic." Matt was still trying to understand how a skinny jerk like that was able to do all that to him.

"Matt, calm down, you're on the same side, aren't you?" Gabumon said.

"Huh, that guy is on his own side. I think he would betray us without hesitation if it would be convenient to him."

Grayman looked to Matt again. The blond one was expecting some angry reaction, but Charles only said with a smile:

"You're not as stupid as you look, Mathew!"

"My name is Yamato."

"But Matt is a nickname for Mathew. I don't understand why you use such a nickname. You wanted to be American or something like that?"

"Of course not, you... you...!"

Suddenly they heard knocks on the door. Matt opened it and let the two girls and the two digimons (Ceresmon and Pyiomon) enter.

"Charlie!" Auri greeted joyfully. Grayman didn't look to her.

"Charlie, it's not polite to ignore people. I'm talking to you." she said again.

"I know, it's impossible to ignore such a noisy and annoying thing like you, frau Schultz."

"Ah, Charlie, sweet as always."

"Sora." Matt called her, "How did you convince your mother to let Auri and Ceresmon be with you?"

"I told her that Auri was a Brazilian digidestined who needed a place to stay. She was resistant at the beginning, but, thanks to Ceresmon, now she's glad they're with us."

"What do you mean?" Matt asked.

"Well, my mother has a flower shop and Ceresmon is able to control plants, and even make them healthier and beautiful... I think the rest is explained by itself."

Suddenly, through the living room's window, Persefonemon entered.

"Ahhh, excuse me. Did Koushiro come here?" She asked nervously.

"What? Izzy woke up?" Matt and Sora asked at the same time. Auri and Grayman exchanged some looks. Chainmon asked:

"Why would he come here?"

"Well... I think I need to explain this to you." Persefonemon said. Back to where Izzy and the Heart were, Izzy looked to the Heart astonished.

"You're saying... No! This is madness. Of course I don't hate people, it's an absurd. Why would I hate people?"

"Koushiro, stop lying to yourself." The Heart said.

"I'm not lying to myself! You're the one lying here! You don't understand! I care a lot about people, that's why...

"That's why you hide your bad emotions and pretend all the time everything is OK with you?"

"Yes! I don't want to bother anyone or make them worry about me. I do this because I love them." The rain was falling heavier and colder, what made the boy fall to his knees.

"Koushiro, you haven't realized what this rain is, have you?"

"It's just rain. It was raining in the real world too."

"No, it wasn't. In fact, it was a hot sunny day."

Izzy didn't believe in that. He lifted his head and stared at the Heart, who was with a pretty serious face.

"What kind of joke is this? I saw the rain, I felt the rain!" the boy protested.

"And nobody else seemed to see or feel the rain. Don't you think it's a little odd?"

Izzy went pale, that was true.

"You're saying... the rain was just in my mind? I was hallucinating?" he asked concerned.

"Not exactly. It's just that I turned thinner the barrier that isolated your inner world in order to bring you here. Because of that, you saw and felt the rain that was falling just here."

"The rain..." Izzy looked around. The rain was so dense that was hard to see the great amount of water that was increasing. "...why are you making this rain fall?"

The Heart looked to Koushiro with anger. He lifted him by the arms and pulled him close, in order to make him see his furious face closely.

"YOU THINK I'M DOING THIS? YOU THINK I WANT TO BE STUCK IN A DARK AND COLD PLACE LIKE THIS? YOU'RE THE ONE WHO'S RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS RAIN! IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT! YOU... you destroyed everything. And I truly hate you for this."

The Heart let go of Izzy. The boy was watching speechless how the other was shaking with anger. The Heart looked to Izzy again with wet and furious eyes. Izzy couldn't say if they were wet because of tears or because of the rain.

"You said..." Izzy began to talk, "I'm the responsible for this rain? I don't see how I could be the responsible."

"You don't see? Is it so hard to you understand what this rain is? TASTE IT!"

Izzy was nervous. He licked slightly his left hand and realized that rain was salty.

"How can this be salty? This is not right! Rain can't be salty." The redhead said.

"You fool! This is not real rain! It's a symbolization."

"...Symbolization?" Izzy asked in low voice, "Of what?"

The Heart gave him a strange look, as if he was trying to laugh and shout something with anger at the same time.

"You can say, Koushiro, that this rain is made of the tears you don't drop. The emotions you don't show."

In shock, Izzy couldn't say anything. The Heart continued:

"It's normal for people to be sad, angry or desperate sometimes. To a well-structured mind, this inner darkness is a strength, a thing that makes you stronger and wiser. But, to let this happen, you can't lock your darkness inside you or pretend it doesn't exist. You deny these feelings because you don't want them. You have the pathetic desire to be a perfect person."

"That's not true." Izzy said with his voice breaking. The Heart didn't stop talking:

"You wanted to be the perfect son, the perfect student, the perfect friend. The one who is always helpful, who's always reliable, calm, responsible, gentle, nice, sweet. A perfect person that never gets nervous or angry, that never feels offended, that always forgives the others and apologizes even for things that this person knows weren't really his fault. A person who doesn't want to worry anyone, to bother anyone at all. A perfect person who bears all the weight of the world and never complains. You really can say that you didn't want to become this person?"

Izzy embraced himself, maybe because of the cold. He looked to the Heart and said:

"What's wrong with being helpful? With not wanting to worry people? Why do you talk as if I'm doing something bad?"

"Tell me, Koushiro, why do you act like that?"

"I-I care about people. I love my family and my friends... I..."

"This is not true."

"IT IS TRUE! I LOVE THEM!"

"SAY THE TRUTH!"

Izzy fell to his knees again. The heavy rain was starting to hurt him.

Back to Matt's apartment, Persefonemon had finished the narrative about what had happened to Izzy. Ceresmon was the first one to speak:

"It's not so bad."

"Really?" Persefonemon asked.

"Of course not!" Ceresmon shouted, "What were you thinking? Punching a digidestined to defend Koushiro? If there was a bit of doubt in his mind about Unschuld's history, you erased it!"

"What was I supposed to do? Let that idiot beat Koushiro? He even called master Weisheit 'evil!'"

"Persefonemon." Chainmon spoke, "I know you're a little passionate, but..."

"A LITTLE PASSIONATE?" Ceresmon shouted, "Persefonemon threw a thorn on the boy's sister and now she punches him! And the worst! She let it clear that she has a connection with Koushiro! Because of her lack of self-control-"

"Hold on a minute! You can't forget that I did that because-" Persefonemon was saying, when Matt interrupted:

"SHUT UP! IT'S NOT TIME FOR THIS SILLY DISCUSSION!"

"Wow, he talks like a man when he wants to." Grayman taunted. Matt gave him a murderer look. Sora decided to speak:

"Matt is right. Right now we should worry about Izzy's location. With all that stuff Tai said, he must be very upset now."

"Very upset?" Charles laughed, "You really don't know him, do you?"

Matt and Sora were caught in surprise.

"Of course we know him! We have known him since we were kids!" Matt protested.

"But, until recently, you knew nothing about his adoption, right?" Grayman asked.

"He never told us..." Sora said reluctantly, "but Izzy always was a reserved person. Besides, he's very mature and intelligent..."

"Wow. You really understand nothing!" Charles exclaimed. Aurélia was serious.

"Wait a second!" Matt said angry, Y"ou think what? That you guys, who first met Izzy few days ago, know him better than us? You think you're better friends?"

"I'm not his friend, Blondie." Grayman said, "I'm just not stupid to the point to not notice there's something seriously wrong with his personality. He reminds me of the good king."

Nobody understood. Aurélia asked:

"What good king?"

"It's a story my mother told me once, 'the good king's tale.' I remember she saying something about a friend of her being the author... I don't really remember."

"It's rare for you talk about your mother." Aurélia commented in low voice. Grayman didn't comment anything about it.

"Well, what does this tale have to do with Izzy?" Sora asked. She was concerned. Matt was concerned as well. Charles started to talk:

"Let me see. There was a beautiful kingdom a long time ago. Its king was a gentle and kind man, who always thought about other people's well-being before his own. One day, the king got an illness. He could have traveled in search of a cure, but he didn't want to let the kingdom unprotected. Also, he didn't want anyone to worry about him."

"What did the king do?" Matt asked.

"He locked himself in a tower of his castle. He just communicated with others by letters. Nobody was allowed to enter his tower. He pretended that every thing was fine with him, and he continued to do good things for the people. Nobody ever wanted to know why the king never left the tower or why he never saw anyone. 'It's just the way he is,' people said, without concern. But the good king was getting sicker and weaker with time, until he was no longer able to ask for help. He died in the tower."

"Nobody looked for him?" Sora asked in shock.

"Well, when the good king stopped doing good things for the people, the people started to think they had been abandoned. They started to hate the king. The kingdom was abandoned and nobody ever knew what had happened to the king. In fact, he was remembered as a selfish tyrant who didn't care about anyone else besides himself.

Matt, Sora, Persefonemon, Ceresmon and Chainmon stayed in deep silence for some minutes. Auri was the first one to say something:

"When we were attacked by Traum, Izzy saved us without hesitation. He risked his own safety for complete strangers like us. And he made us want to fight for our lives."

_**Flash-back**__** from chapter 10:**_

Aurélia didn't know what to say, but a question appeared in her mind:

"If I was hit by a car, my life is in risk. What would happen to you if your conscience is in my mind and I die?"

Izzy didn't expect that question.

"I... didn't think about it. But, I wouldn't let you stuck here even if it meant I'd have to risk my life."

"Risking your life for someone you barely know. You're a very special person, Izzy."

Suddenly the walls around them started to dissolve quickly, the ground was disappearing too. Soon, they would fall into a deep and dark hole, which had already swallowed the rest of Aurélia's inner world.

"That's it! We're going to die here." she said in resignation.

"Don't say that, this is not real! You can't give up now, Auri."

"There's nothing I can do now. I can't fight anymore... it's meaningless..."

"STOP SAYING THIS STUFF!" Izzy shouted at her, "Are you going back on your words now? It's true that I barely know you, but I thought you were stronger."

"...Izzy?" Izzy's words disturbed Aurélia.

"You can't give up on your life when you mean something to someone, when there are people waiting for you." Izzy said.

_**End of flash-back**_

Back to Matt's apartment.

"It was not just that." Grayman said suddenly, trying to not sound emotional. "He cared more about our safety and didn't give a damn about his own. He considered other people's lives more important than his, and was ready to sacrifice himself for us. In fact, he was taking the responsibility and blaming himself."

_**Flash-back **__**from chapter 9**_

"Listen, Grayman. This is your inner world. You're trapped in a nightmare because of Traum. I came here to rescue you. I was so worried-"

"Liar." Charles said in a cold tone.

"No, I really came-"

"Is it because you need me for something? That's right. You need the help of the association, that's why..."

"What? No!" Izzy shouted, "I was really worried! All this is happening because of me... it's my fault that Traum is doing this to you... I-I'm so sorry..."

Charles didn't seem to understand what Izzy was saying. Izzy continued:

"I don't want you to help me anymore. Any of you. As soon as I save you all, you must go to a far and safer place. Y-you'll be OK."

"It doesn't make sense... how would it be good for you letting us go? Your chances are worse if you fight alone."

"I don't care. I... I just don't want to cause misery to other people..."

A crack was heard around them. Grayman was in disbelief...

"That's a lie. People just do things for themselves... it doesn't make sense. Do you want to die?"

"No, I don't! If I died, my parents and other people would be sad. I don't want that. I don't want people to be sad..."

Another crack was heard.

"I don't want people to suffer..."

Another crack. A gray fog was approaching them.

"It will start again. The nightmare." Charles said, looking to the fog. Before it reached him, Izzy grabbed his right arm tightly.

"What are you doing, Izumi?"

"I can't let it happen to you again! I came to stop it!"

"There's no point in it! You can't make this stop, if you don't let me go, you'll just get caught with me."

Izzy stayed in silence. Then, he said:

"It's all right. Even if I can't save you... at least I'll not let you alone."

Crack!

"Why? Izumi, can't you go back from where you came?"

"I think I can, but I'm not going to let you here suffering alone... nobody should go through this... it's too cruel."

"This is illogical."

"You think I don't know it? I'm a pretty smart person!"

"If you know it, so why do you do this? What do you gain by doing this?"

Izzy didn't say anything. He just stared at Charles seriously, then he stared at the fog around them.

"I don't think I'm going to gain something. Even if I can save you, you don't need to do anything for me in exchange. All what I desire right now is that you and the others can be in safety. Even if it means my chances of surviving will become smaller... even if I end up dying and my parents being sad because of it... it may be idiot and pathetic, but I really think other person's life and happiness are more important than mine... I want to do all what I can for the others."

_**End of the flash-back.**_

Grayman continued:

"Like the good king, Izumi lives just for other people's sake. He doesn't like his life, he doesn't have self-esteem. When that Tai person told those things to him... something inside him must have been severely damaged. Maybe he can't recover from that."

Sora started to cry. Matt hugged her.

"What kind of friends were we?" she sobbed, "How haven't we ever realized what was going on with Izzy?"

"He never told us anything." Matt said. He was very sad too.

"Even so, we should... we should have..."

"We don't have time for this." Aurélia said, walking towards the door, "We must find Izzy now. Maybe he went back to his apartment."

"You're right." Grayman said, walking towards the door too, "Besides, there's a thing that is bothering me."

Charles remembered when he met the Heart. Something was telling him that _he _would take advantage of the situation somehow. The phrase "I still need his body" never left Grayman's mind.

"Hey, Charlie!" Aurélia called him when they left the building. Ceresmon, Persefonemon and Chainmon were heading for Izzy's apartment by a different path, in order to not been seen near the digidestineds.

"What is it, frau Schultz?"

"You... are really concerned about Izzy, aren't you?" she asked with a smile.

Grayman turned to her with a furious face and said:

"Don't be ridiculous!"

"Ha ha ha! You're such a sweet boy!" Auri laughed more, what made Charles more furious.

Meanwhile, in Izzy's inner world, Koushiro was on his knees, shaking.

"Tell me." Izzy asked the Heart, "You know the truth, don't you? You know the answers to these questions you're making. Just tell me and end this."

Izzy didn't see, but the Heart smiled when he heard that. He said:

"Everything started when you found out you were adopted. Before that, this place was really beautiful and I was happy here. This was once a castle, with a big garden around it. There were a lot of trees and, for some reason, electronic things. It eventually rained, but it never took too much time. The sun shone almost every time. You were a happy kid... because of that I was happy too. You were my king."

"King?" Izzy asked, "I don't think I could be something like a king."

"You were different. But, when you found out you were adopted... this place started to be destroyed. Dark clouds covered the sun. Furious winds destroyed some walls. And an almost uninterrupted rain began. You were with a lot of doubts in your mind. You realized that every thing you once believed to be real... was just an illusion. You felt despair and fear. You were sad and angry. This could have been resolved if you had talked to your parents, if you had let all those feelings escape. But you haven't done that. You were too coward."

"I just... didn't want to be ungrateful." Izzy confessed, "I wasn't their son. I didn't belong to that house, to that life. And they took care of me. They were good for me. How could I confront them? I didn't have that right. I didn't have any right at all. I was just a person who didn't belong to anywhere or anyone. I was nothing."

"You were afraid of rejection, Koushiro."

"..."

"They were good. They took care of you, a worthless thing. They didn't have any special reason for doing that. So you thought 'what if they stop liking me? They don't have any reason to take care of me. They would just abandon me.' It's interesting. You didn't feel comfortable with them. You didn't feel comfortable in that house, in that life. But, at the same time, you didn't want to lose those things. You were too afraid. Even knowing you didn't belong to them, you didn't want to be left by them."

"I didn't have anything. I didn't want to lose my family. I loved my family... and my life."

"That's true, I can't deny. Love doesn't disappear so quickly. Your mind was confused, but you didn't want to think about the bad feelings anymore. You decided to lock them in your heart and never let anyone approaches."

"I acted as if everything was fine. I always was smiling, even if I wasn't happy. I always obeyed them."

"You did more than that. You wanted to become someone they would never abandon. You wanted to be a perfect son for them. You never complained, you never fought, you never altered your voice. Always polite, always quiet, always having a good behavior. You started to fear failure more than anything. You started to fear to disappoint them. Soon, this behavior would be repeated with everybody and in every situation. You were the reliable and helpful friend, the good student, the useful tool in the fight against the Digital World's enemies."

"It's true. This is all true. But.." Izzy wasn't looking to any specific place now, "... it was all useless."

"Yeah. Your mother didn't like the way you acted. She wanted a more normal kid, what you weren't able to be anymore. Your father never saw your efforts to be good. He thought it was just the way you were. With time, even your mother started to believe in that. Your friends too. You remember what your beloved friend Tai, the one you always admired, said to you, don't you? He said that you used them. He called you a pathetic lonely kid. Despite all your sacrifice, that's how people really see you. A heartless, selfish and pathetic person."

"I don't want to hear this anymore." Izzy whispered.

"But you will! Nobody cared about your misery, nobody liked you more because of your sacrifice. You realized how unfair people really were. That's why you hate them."

"STOP SAYING THIS!"

"You hate them all!"

"SHUT UP!"

Izzy started to cry without control.

"I-I didn't want to get angry at them." Izzy said, "I know I shouldn't get angry. I know my place in the world. I know I don't deserve my family, my friends and my life."

"And that's why you hate your life so much."

"I can't admit it. If I accepted such a thing... I would be deeply ungrateful."

The Heart lifted Izzy again by the arms and examined his wet face.

"That's OK, Koushiro. I understand. At least admit one thing."

"What?"

"Admit that you hate yourself more than anything."

Silence. Izzy thought for a long while, then answered.

"I admit it. I truly hate myself."

The Heart smiled. Izzy continued:

"You said once that you were me, right? So that's just logical that you hate me. I hurt you as much as myself. Because of my weakness, I destroyed everything you liked. I'm sorry... I-I'm so sorry."

"I know you're sorry. But don't forget the reason that I brought you here."

"To end my misery and yours, right?"

"Yes, Koushiro. I want to free you of all this misery."

"You can do this?" Izzy asked with a bit of hope.

"Yes. All you need to do is to give me the entire control of your mind. I can be the one who will live your life from now on. I'll let you sleeping under the sea and you will never need to think or feel anything bad again."

"Sounds like death to me."

"It's a rest. You know you need a rest. Leave the burden to me, Koushiro. I'm not going to judge you."

The idea didn't scare Izzy. Never feel sadness again. _Never get angry. Never pretend to anyone that I'm OK. Nothing to worry about._

"I accept." Izzy said in low voice. The Heart smiled and put his right hand on Izzy's forehead. The boy stopped feeling the rain. He stopped feeling sadness and despair. The Heart closed his eyes and threw Koushiro into the sea. The rain stopped, but the sun didn't show up. Izzy sank, but he didn't feel anything. It was like falling into nothingness.

The Heart started to laugh and cry at the same time.

"I'm free! I'm free of Koushiro. I'm the king now!" He said, happy.

**What do you think it's going to happen?**** What are the Heart's true intentions? Will Izzy come back? Why am I making these weird questions? Find out on the next chapter.**

**This chapter was supposed to be longer. So many things to happen. By the way, happy new year! ^^**


	14. Decisions

New year, new chapter!

**Chapter 14: Decisions**

_**Flash-back:**_

When Tai was eight years old, he met some people in his school's club of activities. He was always nice with everybody, what made him admired by a lot of students. One day, he saw a small redhead boy alone, sitting on a bench. He asked some kids about him.

"Oh, he?" a girl a year younger than Tai asked, "I know him. He's in my class. His name is Koushiro Izumi."

"Why isn't he playing with the other children?"

"Well... the fact is that his classmates don't like him very much. Not that he's a bad person. He's very polite and helpful. But he's a lot shy and quiet, besides being the smartest of the class. He's not what you could call a 'popular person.'"

"I see." Tai was feeling sorry for the boy. He approached him in order to start a conversation. Koushiro got a bit nervous with that.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. You're Koushiro, right?"

The little boy confirmed with his head.

"I'm Taichi Yagami, but my friends call me Tai. Some people think my last name is Kamya because of a misunderstand with school's system, but it has already been corrected." Tai said, smiling. Koushiro was just staring at him, not able to speak.

"You're very shy, aren't you? I'm sorry if I'm bothering you, I can leave if you want."

Tai was preparing himself to leave, but Koushiro muttered a thing:

"You're not bothering me. I'm sorry for making you think that."

"Oh. You don't need to worry about that!" Tai said nicely.

"Excuse me, Taichi. Why are you talking to me?"

"'Why?' I don't understand what you mean."

"People don't usually approach me. And they don't seem to like to talk to me either."

"Oh. That's probably because you're too shy and serious and people don't feel very comfortable with that. But, you know what? I think you're a very good person."

Izzy stared at the ground when Tai told him that. The older boy noticed.

"You can call me 'Tai' from now on. If you want, of course.

Izzy looked to him in surprise.

"But..." the little boy began, you said that you were called that by your friends."

Tai gave Koushiro a big smile and said a simple "I know what I said."

Izzy smiled a little, Tai liked that. "By the way," he added, "if you don't mind, could I call you 'Izzy?' Koushiro is a nice name, but I think it sounds too serious."

"S-sure." Izzy answered.

_**End of flash-back**_

In Tai's apartment, the digidestineds and their digimons were reuniting, because Kari wanted to talk an important thing. When Joe arrived, he found in the living room Tai, sitting quiet on the sofa, Ken, Yolie, Davis, TK and Cody on chairs and Kari on the middle of the living room. The digimons were next to their partners.

"What about Matt and Sora? Weren't they called?" Joe asked Yolei.

"It seems it was required that they shouldn't be informed." She answered, "It seems they're not trustful enough."

"I see." Joe wondered what would the people in that apartment do if they found out he was on Izzy's side, with Matt and Sora. Then, he realized it could be useful if he pretented to know nothing about Izzy's situation. _If I get informed about Unschuld's plans, I can tell the others._

Kari decided to start talking. Everybody gave her attention, even Tai, who had been worried about Izzy since he came back home. _Izzy was so sad... why do I feel so bad for what I did?_

"Guys." Kari started, "Last night, I've talked to a voice... a voice that I had heard a long time ago, in the Digital World."

Everybody went pale. Tai and Joe thought the same thing.

"You mean the voice you heard while we were fighting the dark masters?" Tai asked. Kari confirmed. Tai explained to the new digidestineds what had happened that time, when a mysterious digimon possessed Kari.

"It seems that a part of that digimon never left me completely. Because of that, combined with other factors, I have a light coming from me sometimes. For what I was told, this digimon has possessed me sometimes recently." Kari told them.

_Izzy was saying the truth!_ Tai thought. Kari continued:

"This digimon did that because she felt the danger was approaching us."

"She?" Joe asked.

"Yes." Kari answered. "You know something about her already. I'm talking about Unschuld, the lady of light."

Joe couldn't hide his shock:

"UNSCHULD IS POSSESSING YOU?" he shouted.

"And she was the one who possessed you that time?" Tailmon asked. She wasn't liking that story.

"I think it's better if I let her explain herself now." Kari said. She closed her eyes and, then, she began to talk in a different tone:

"Hello."

"What's going on here?" Tailmon asked, "I thought you were a creature without a physical body who wanted the balance in the Digital World. How can you be Unschuld?"

"All what you said is true, except the thing about the physical body. That time I didn't have the time to explain this to you. Actually I have a body, but I can't bring it to the Digital World or even Earth."

"Why not?" Tai asked.

"The thing is that the mere presence of my physical form can bring a huge instability to a regular world, being possible to destroy it."

Everybody went nervous. Unschuld continued:

"You must be wondering why I possessed Hikari without asking. I'm deeply sorry for doing that, but the situation wasn't good. In fact, the situation is even worse now."

"Don't tell me." Tai said upset, "Izzy is truly on Weisheit's side now."

Everybody was in shock. Unschuld was surprised by that line as well.

"You don't understand the situation, Taichi." she said, "Koushiro is just a victim-"

"He told me he was on Weisheit's side and that you're the enemy. More! He said that you were after him! He didn't look like someone who doesn't know about what is talking!" Tai almost shouted. Joe went pale. _What the hell! When did this happen?_ He thought. Unschuld didn't like to hear that as well. _Damn it! Why does Koushiro have always to be a good boy? That wasn't a smart move for him. At least, Taichi seems to not have believed in his story_, she thought.

"Koushiro said that because he believes in that. He's not lying." She said, what made everybody surprised. _She's admiting the whole thing? _Joe asked himself. Unschuld continued:

"But, the thing is that Koushiro believes in that because of Weisheit's power. You don't know the dimension of his mind control. He's able to force things into a person's mind and make this person think it's his own idea. Koushiro is being manipulated and is in great danger right now. As his friends, you should be worrying about him and trying to save him, instead of doubting of him!" Unschuld said without hesitation. Joe wasn't understanding her tactic. _Why is she doing this? Wouldn't it be more convenient if she just let them think that Izzy is the enemy?_ He was wondering.

Tai felt his heart heavy. He remembered the things he had told Izzy earlier. _Izzy was innocent! Of course he was! I was so over-worried about Kari that I didn't see... the things I said to him... how could I be able to do that to him? I'm the worst friend ever!_

"Excuse me." Cody said, "You told us that the situation was worse. About what were you talking?"

"It's no use to hide this from you. Traum was killed by Weisheit." Unschuld lied.

"WHAT!" They all shouted.

"That bastard!" TK was the first one to talk, "How could he do this to Traum?"

"Unforgivable!" Cody said in anger. Unschuld was satisfied with their reaction:

"I believe that Weisheit is getting more impatient with the time and decided to make a move. It's not impossible that he ends up killing Koushiro too."

Desperation was taking over the people. Tai stood up and headed for the door.

"Stop, Taichi! What are you thinking?" Unschuld asked.

"Isn't it obvious? I'm going to get Izzy away from that psycho." Tai was nervous. _If something happens to Izzy... I'll never forgive myself!_ He was thinking.

"If you go right now, you'll just make things worse."

"WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO? JUST SIT AND LET IZZY BE KILLED?" Tai screamed.

"No." Unschuld spoke seriously, "I want you to wait and get prepared for our next move."

"Next move?" Joe asked, "What would it be?"

"First of all. We need someone to approach Koushiro and pretend to believe in him. This person will inform us of anything odd that happens." Unschuld said. Yolei had an idea:

"I think this person should be Joe. He lives in the same building and is the most reliable person I know."

"You're right! I agree." Cody said. Everybody seemed to agree. Joe felt kind of ashamed for being fooling his friends like that. But he knew that, in the present situation, that was the most convenient thing that could happen.

"Do you agree, Joe?"Tai asked. Joe confirmed with his head.

"Also." Unschuld continued to talk, "It's important to see what Yamato and Sora are doing. I can't tell wether they're under Weisheit's control as well or not."

TK was concerned about his older brother. He wanted more than ever defeat Weisheit and save everyone.

"Now that we've decided this, I think it's time to go. Don't be careless and wait for my instructions before acting. Any wrong decision can lead to a tragic result." she concluded.

Meanwhile, Sabine went back to Izzy's apartment, where Mrs. Izumi was waiting.

"Sabine! There you are! Where's Koushiro?" the woman asked.

Sabine seemed confused with the question, what disappointed Mrs. Izumi.

"He didn't find you, did he?" she asked.

"No. Was he looking for me? Why?"

"He went after you because you had left that way. He was worried. Did he do something that made you upset?"

Sabine stayed in silence for a moment, then spoke:

"No. In fact, he did a really good thing for me. And I need to thank him for that."

"...Now I'm more confused than I already was." Mrs. Izumi sighed. A minute later, a redhead boy opened the front door and entered.

"KOUSHIRO!" Mrs. Izumi shouted in relief. "Where have you been?"

The boy in her front gave her a large smile and said:

"I'm sorry for making you worry about me. It's everything fine."

Mrs. Izumi was very happy in seeing her son fine, but Sabine was serious. _There's something different._

"Sabine!" the boy said, approaching her, "I was worried about you. Is it everything all right?"

"Yes." she answered coldly. _Something is wrong._

"By the way, mom." the boy turned again to Mrs. Izumi, "Is Weisheit still on the roof?"

"Yes, I think so." The woman replied.

"I need to talk to him."

"I'll go with you." Sabine said abruptly. The boy didn't seem to like the idea, but he tried to not let her realize that.

"It's OK, Sabine! I prefer to go alone-"

"I insist!" the girl said. They exchanged some intense looks, what made Mrs. Izumi uncomfortable.

"Sabine, I think it would be better if you stayed here." The woman adviced, trying to prevent a possible argument, even not knowing what was going on. The boy took the chance and left the apartment quickly. _That girl may be a problem. But I have more important things to do right now._

Weisheit was sitting on the roof, observing the city. He realized that a person was coming towards him. When the boy reached the roof, he saw Weisheit standing, looking to him.

"Hi, Weisheit. It has been a while."

"That's true."

"I need to talk to you. It's important." The redhead said while he was approaching the other. When he got close enough, the boy offered his right hand to Weisheit.

"I noticed that we didn't have time for a polite compliment until now. My parents say that a good way to show people you respect them is by a handshake. You did a lot for me, Weisheit. I could never repay. Can you accept at least this?" the boy asked in a shy way.

"That's OK!" Weisheit said nicely, offering his own hand. The moment the boy grabbed Weisheit's hand, a white light covered both of them.

"You always were naive, Weisheit!" the boy laughed. But Weisheit wasn't moving or reacting at all. His surface began to break. When the boy noticed, he was grabbing one of the other's swords.

"It's an amazing metal the black mithiryl, isn't it?" Weisheit's voice came from the boy's back, "I know I shouldn't talk so much about one of my creations, but, you have to admit it! It was a very cool clone. To be honest, this plan of yours was kind of silly. Underestimation has a limit, you know... Heart?"

Without turning to face Weisheit, the Heart asked:

"How did you realize?"

"'How?' Did you forget about my eyes?" Weisheit pointed to his own eyes.

"Oh yeah. With those eyes you're able to see what happens in a radius of 100 Km. Besides, you're also able to see inside people's bodies. You're not able to read minds, though."

"I didn't need to read your mind. Anyone would find odd when a boy falls on the ground like that all depressed and then, when he wakes up, is all better. But what really made me be sure who you were was this great flow of energy in you. Not to talk about your attitude. You remind me of _her_."

"Don't talk... as if you knew something about Unschuld and me!" the Heart threw the sword against Weisheit, who grabbed it in the middle of the air.

"I made this weapon! It's foolish to think it would ever hurt me."

"Tsc." the Heart was getting mad at Weisheit.

"Why are you trying to absorb my code, anyway?"

"I already have Traum's code. It was enough to stabilize me a little, but I want more."

"Why?"

"To become strong enough to oppose Unschuld."

"And strong enough to leave Koushiro's body too, right?" Weisheit was disgusted. "He's going to die if you do this."

"If you're so smart, you should have already deduced that I don't give a damn if Koushiro dies... in fact..." he turned to face Weisheit, "...it would be an extra bonus."

"Don't think that I'm going to let this happen!" Weisheit said with ferocity, the Heart laughed:

"You talk a lot! But I have an advantage against you, or don't you remember I was there when Glaube killed those two?"

Weisheit went pale. The Heart continued:

"I know you would never let Koushiro get hurt. Making promises to dead people... what a silly thing to do."

Weisheit ran towards the end of the roof and jumped to the other building. He was running away.

"That idiot thinks he can escape? What a fool!" The Heart went back to the stairs.

Sabine was at a window and saw something jumping to the building in her front. She noticed that it was someone wearing a black coat. The figure was running away.

"Excuse me, I need to go!" she told Mrs. Izumi before leaving the apartment in a hurry. The woman, who was making the lunch, was astonished. "What the hell is happening?"

When Sabine left the building, she met Charles, Aurélia, Matt, Sora, Pyiomon and Gabumon outside.

"What's the hurry, weird girl?" Grayman asked.

"I saw Weisheit running away. He jumped to the other building."

"Running away?" Matt asked, "Is there any enemy here?"

"What I know is that Koushiro went to see him a little before this happened." Sabine informed.

"Oh no! You think the enemy took Izzy and Weisheit is going after them?" Sora asked worried.

"It's unbelievable how you guys are able to always come to the wrong conclusion." Grayman said. "Look who's coming from the building."

When the Heart left the building, he saw the five teenagers and two digimons looking to him. _Great! All what I needed now!_

"Izzy!" Sora called, "Good to see that you're fine!"

"Oh, thank you, Sora." the boy gave her a fake smile. _Out of my way, stupid human!_ He was thinking.

"Sabine said that she had seen Weisheit running away. Do you know what happened?" Matt asked. The boy went pale. _Damn it! How am I going to explain this?_

"Well, it seems that Weisheit found someone dangerous near this place." the Heart lied, "He was going to check. I was following him because it made me worried."

"Wow, such a noble person!"Grayman said with a serious face. The Heart didn't like that.

"See, Izumi." the dark-haired boy continued. "Frau Schultz left the hospital already, isn't it great?"

The boy approached them. Auri gave Grayman a mysterious look. Sabine was serious. The others didn't have any clue about what was going on.

"Auri!" the boy gave her a big and fake smile, "It's great to see that you're fine. You know, Grayman was very concerned about you."

"Oh yeah." Grayman confirmed, what made Matt and Sora very surprised, since he always denied that he had been worried about the Brazilian girl. "I totally was. Remeber when we were in the ambulance?"

"Yes! He was grabbing your hand the entire time!" The Heart said, keeping the fake smile. "Even when we entered the hospital, he didn't want to leave you."

Grayman smiled widely when he heard that. Aurélia had already understood the situation.

"That's impressive that you remember all these things." the girl said seriously. "Since you weren't there."

The Heart went pale when he heard that. The girl continued:

"You were in my inner world... or at least, Izzy was."

"Stop this game!" Grayman ordered, "I know it's _you_."

The smile left the boy's face, being replaced by a cold look.

"All right. It's boring to play the good boy anyway."

"Du bist..." Sabine said, approaching him, "...das Herz!" (translating: you are the Heart)

"German is a lovely language. Yes, I am. Kokoro, Coração, Herz... you can call me all these ways. But my favorite still is "'Heart.'"

The boy continued to walk. Auri said abruptly:

"You're not seriously thinking we're just going to let you be in command of Izzy's body, are you?"

"There's nothing you can do against me. Just get out of my way, I have more important things to do."

"You!" Sabine ran towards the Heart. Auri and Matt ran too. They wanted to stop him. A white light wrapped the boy's body, what made them stop.

"If you don't want to get hurt." he said, "It's better don't do any stupid thing!"

The light increased, what made them need to cover their eyes. When they opened their eyes again, the boy had already left.

While this, Joe was going to his building, with Gomamon in a bag.

"You seem apprehensive, Joe." Gomamon said.

"Of course I am! I don't like the idea of lying to my friends."

"But if you don't do this, Izzy is going to be in trouble."

"I know." Joe said, sad, "I just wanted that they believed in Izzy's version of the facts."

"Don't worry, Joe!" Gomamon tried to cheer him up, "I'm sure that this is only a temporary thing. Soon everybody will work together again."

Joe smiled and thanked Gomamon. _In times like this, I wish Mimi were with me. She always made me feel better. I should write an e-mail or something..._ Joe's thoughts were interrupted when he saw Matt, Sora, Pyiomon, Gabumon and the association people outside the building.

"What's going on?" he asked. Meanwhile, the Heart was walking down a street. _Damn it! Where is Weisheit? Even if I could approach him somehow, he would see me and move away. He must be watching right now... wait, that's it!_ A little far from there, Weisheit was running on a building's roof, when he saw three digimons approaching.

"Master Weisheit!" Persefonemon called. She, Chainmon and Ceresmon made Weisheit stop his run, "You don't know what happened!"

"If you're talking about the incident with that Taichi boy, I do know what happened. You're the ones who don't know what happened." Weisheit informed. He suddenly went pale and said "Oh no."

"What is it?" Ceresmon asked.

"A great amount of energy is coming from Koushiro's body. If the Heart keeps this, Koushiro will get hurt."

"The Heart?" Persefonemon asked, "The Heart is controlling Koushiro's body."

"Wow, it..." Chainmon thought for a while until find the best word to describe his opinion about the facts, "...sucks."

"It totally sucks!" Weisheit said with vehemency, "He must be doing this in order to force me to go to where he is and steal my code."

"WHAT?" The three asked at the same time.

"You can't go there, master!" Ceresmon said, "If you lose your code, you're going to die!"

"I know. I have no intention of giving him my code. But I can't abandon Koushiro." Weisheit said. He didn't know what to do. _I promised I would protect Koushiro. I must keep this promise no matter what!_

Suddenly, a light began to be seen in the entire neighborhood. That made Weisheit more desperate. "I must go!" he said, being followed by the digimons. He arrived at the street soon, where a lot of people were trying to run from the weird glowing light. Koushiro wasn't visible there. Some people tried to call the cops or take pictures of that, but the electronic machines weren't working. The association members and the three digidestineds, who had seen the light too, had run towards that place. Seeing Weisheit there, the Heart decreased the light.

"So you came, Weisheit! I'm glad." the boy said. He had, already, some cuts and burns on his skin.

"Stop doing this! By using your power, you're harming Izzy!" Auri said.

"You think I don't know that?" The Heart asked. Then, he turned his attention back to Weisheit, "Weisheit, listen to me! I'm really going to kill Koushiro if you don't come here right now and give me your code."

"He plans to kill Izumi anyway." Grayman said. The others stared at him, "I remember the Heart saying days ago 'I _still_ need his body.' Right after that, he absorbed Traum's code and almost killed Izumi. If he did that, the logical conclusion is that he doesn't need his body anymore."

"I see." Aurélia said, "He didn't have enough stability before, that's why he never tried to kill Izzy or anything like that. Something bad could happen to him if he left the body back then. But now, with Traum's code, he doesn't have this concern anymore."

"You're all very smart!" The Heart commented smiling, "I think I can resist some days without a body in my present condition without losing myself. I can increase this stability with more code, Weisheit's code. I can kill Koushiro and go after you, Weisheit, in a different body. If you collaborate, I promise to not destroy this body. So, what do you say?"

Weisheit was in silence. Persefonemon said:

"You expect us to believe that you'll return to Koushiro the control of his body after this?"

"I never said that I'd do that. There's no way in hell I'd accept a pathetic and worthless low life like him as my king again!" The Heart said coldly. Grayman went pale when he said 'king.' Sora and Matt went furious:

"How dare you..." the blond said, his voice trembling of hatred, "HOW DARE YOU SAY THESE THINGS ABOUT OUR FRIEND!"

He ran towards the redhead boy. The Heart made the light increase again. Chaimon was able to stop Matt with his chains before the boy reached the energy.

"Don't be reckless." Weisheit said, "You would just hurt yourself if you enter that light."

"That light is not like the one that came from Kari in our fight against Mugendramon." Sora said, "It's a completely different thing."

"Actually, you can say that they're pretty much the same thing." the Heart afirmed, "They have the same source. They're just being used in different situations."

"What?" Joe was speechless. _Same source? He means...?_

Sabine walked to the Heart and stopped a few steps before the light. She took a thing from one of her pockets.

"Tell me." she said, without opening her left hand, "Am I right to think that you're keeping Koushiro captive in your inner world?"

"You can say that. In fact, he and I share the same inner world." The Heart replied.

"And, since you absorbed Mr. Dream, the rules that were applied about people stuck in his inner world are the same with you, right?" The girl asked, "But you didn't have any time to divide your conscience and put the pieces in objects, did you?"

_What is this girl thinking?_ The Heart was trying to understand. He thought in using Traum's power, but he feared what would happen if he stopped emitting that energy in that moment. _They would take the chance, without doubt! It's better if I keep this. There's nothing this girl can do now._

"So, I wonder..." Sabine said, opening her hand and showing a small ring, "...if a piece of Mr. Dream's mind was connected to this ring and if his entire code is inside you now, what happens if..."

The Heart tried to stop her, but it was too late. Sabine had put on the ring. A second later, they both collapsed and fell to the ground.

"What happened?" Matt asked. Joe ran towards Izzy to exam his wounds. Luckily they didn't look deep. Auri and Sora went towards Sabine. Weisheit examined the redhead's body with his eyes.

"Her conscience... is in his mind now." he said astonished.

"So that's her plan." Grayman said, "She went there to free Izumi. This girl is not just weird, she's insane too."

"You have no idea." Weisheit added.

"What do you mean?" Joe asked, "She's trying to help Izzy. That's good, right?"

Weisheit was with a dark face. He spoke in a deep serious tone:

"Traum's code is inside Koushiro now and Koushiro is under the Heart's power. Sabine's conscience went to a world under the Heart's control. If the Heart kills Sabine there..."

Silence. Fear was raising in their hearts. Aurélia was the one who finished the sentence:

"Sabine will die for real."

When Sabine realized, she was standing in front of a huge gate. The gate was in the middle of a big wall. The sky was black and the ground was white. Sabine heard someone behind her. She turned around and saw a familiar face.

"I have to admit it was a smart move to lock me here, girl." the Heart said, "But do you realize in what situation you put yourself?"

"I know how risky it is, but it was the only way to rescue Koushiro." Sabine replied without fear.

"What a brave girl!" the Heart mocked. "But your courage just brought you to your death.

The Heart made a sword appear from nowhere. He looked to Sabine with a mischievous face:

"Wellcome to Hell, Sabine Weiss!"

Among the deepest darkness he had ever seen, Izzy woke up suddenly. _Sabine's... voice?_

**Sorry for keeping you waiting. My computer was broken.**


	15. No shaking throne

**I took the chapter's label from Bleach. *_***

**Hope you like it. And thank you for reading my story.**

**Chapter 15: No shaking throne.**

_It's dark..cold. Why did I wake up? I'd prefer to not feel this. I'm so tired of everything. What place is this? Oh, yeah. I'm under that sea. It's weird that I can breathe here..._

Izzy was lying on a cold ground, under that huge amount of water. It was hard for him to move, but he could touch something with his right hand.

_What is this? A wall? I think it's metallic. Maybe a gate. It was from here... I heard her voice... could Sabine be here?... I'm hearing something again._

Meanwhile, the Heart was trying to reach Sabine with the sword. The girl was able to dodge the attacks so far.

_His ability with sword is really this bad?_ Sabine was wondering. _It's almost as if he..._

The girl suddenly stopped moving.

"What are you doing?" She asked, seriously. The Heart seemed to not understand.

"I ask you the same. Have you given up?"

"It doesn't matter if I run or not. You could have killed me already if you wanted to. Why don't you do that?"

The Heart stared at her. Sabine was giving him an intense look.

"Why the rush? I don't need to kill you right now. If you die too soon, it would be boring." the Heart said, forcing a smile. Sabine was not convinced.

_Why is he avoiding to kill me? He's avoiding to hurt me as well. Until this moment, he didn't hurt anyone besides Koushiro. Why?_

"You don't want to hurt people, do you?" she asked. The Heart was caught in surprise.

"What?" he started to laugh. "You think that I care about people or something like that? I hate people!"

"But you lived with a person for many years."

"I just lived with Koushiro because I didn't have choice! But now I don't need him anymore. However, I still prefer to wait until I get Weisheit's code before changing body."

"Changing body?" Sabine asked. She suddenly remembered a thing the Heart had said:

"'You're all very smart!' The Heart said smiling, 'I think I can resist some days without a body in my present condition without losing myself. I can increase this stability with more code, Weisheit's code. I can kill Koushiro and go after you, Weisheit, in a different body. If you collaborate, I promise to not destroy this body. So, what do you say?'"

"I remember now." the girl started, "You said you needed a body to not lose yourself. What is this supposed to mean?"

"Shut up!" the Heart ordered.

"Why do you need a body? Aren't you some sort of energy?"

"I told you to shut up!" the Heart was getting angry. Sabine wasn't paying attention to him anymore.

"To not lose yourself... You're just energy and information, you don't have a self... that's it. You need a body because you need someone's conscience to build your own. It means... you're just a reflection of Koushiro's mind..."

The Heart stabbed Sabine's chest with the sword. He was shaking.

"It's true." he said, "I am Koushiro. And I was condemned to be stuck with him until now, in order to not lose my conscience and personality... to not become an 'it.' But I don't need to be like this anymore. I can find someone else... and become something better than this."

The Heart took the sword from the girl's chest, what made Sabine fall. He was looking at her.

"I hate people! I hate people because Koushiro hates too! I hate Koushiro, because he hates himself! All I hate is what he hates. And this hatred makes me miserable. I can't stand this anymore. I can't stand being stuck in this dark and could emptiness anymore! I just want a way out of here."

"Why?" Sabine asked in a weak voice.

"Because all what I want is happiness. And I can't get it before I abandon Koushiro."

Silence. After a while, Sabine lifted her head and talked:

"It's true. You really are Koushiro. Just like him, you run from your problems and try to hide yourself behind a mask. But, while he pretends to be a perfect boy who never is caught by negative feelings, you're pretending to be a heartless being that doesn't care about anyone. But I can see what you two really are."

"You pretentious human, don't talk as if you could understand!" the Heart grabbed the girl by the arms and lifted her. But he realized, astonished, that the wound in her chest was completely healed.

"What? How?" he was trying to understand. Sabine gave him a head butt, what made the Heart let her go. The Heart was still astonished. The girl took the sword that had fallen on the ground.

"What are you doing?" The Heart asked. Sabine simply said:

"If I get hurt here, my real body gets hurt too. But if my real body is healed, I'm healed here too. I think that Mr. Dream never thought about this possibility."

"But, how is your body being healed?" the Heart was almost speechless. Sabine answered:

"Don't ask me this. Ask my companions that are outside."

"Companions? You mean..."

Sabine pointed the sword to the Heart and said with a deep cold tone:

"Enough with this pointless conversation. Tell me where Koushiro is."

"You really are brave, Sabine Weiss. But you don't really think your chances are better now just because of that sword you got, right?"

"...What? Are you going to make another weapon?"

"Weapon? How foolish." White lights began to shine in the sky. The same light started to gather around the Heart. "I don't need such useless things. Playtime is over."

The light reached Sabine violently.

At the same moment, Sabine's body received the shock. She got some burns and broken bones.

"She's injured again!" Joe alerted. He and the others were in Matt's apartment, to where they had taken Sabine and Koushiro. There, Grayman had saved some of the liquid Leben had given to heal Aurélia two days before. Every time Sabine got injured, they injected a part of the liquid in her body through a syringe Joe had.

"At this rate, the liquid will not last too long." Grayman said.

"What do you suggest? That we stop should giving her the liquid and let her die?" Matt asked.

"Why not? It was a suicidal idea since the beginning." the British boy said, rudely. Matt would have punched him if Aurélia hadn't stopped him.

"This is not time to fight!" she said.

"Auri is right! We should be working on a rescue plan." Sora added.

"What rescue plan? There's nothing we can do. Even if, somehow, we could find a way to go to Izumi's inner world, we would just die too." Grayman told them.

"Weisheit!" Matt decided not to waste any more time arguing with Grayman, "You can do something, right?"

"No, not really. All I can do is to watch the energy inside his body. I'm sorry for this." Weisheit was feeling guilty.

"What a useless digimon we got on our side." Grayman said.

"Enough, Charlie! You're not helping!" Aurélia shouted. She walked toward Izzy and sat on the floor, next to him.

"Izzy, you must fight! Otherwise, Sabine is going to die! I don't know how is your situation now, but you have to resist!"

"I don't think he can hear us, frau Schultz." Grayman tried to convince her to give up, Aurélia wouldn't do that.

"Izzy saved me once. He encouraged me when I was going to give up on my life. He made me remember about the people who were waiting for me. If I'm here now, it's because of him. So, I refuse to give up on him!"

"She's right!" Sora said, walking toward Izzy too. "Izzy, we're here for you! We believe in you! You can fight!"

"Izzy!" Matt decided to encourage his friend as well, "No matter what anyone says, I never stopped believing in you. In the Digital World, we wouldn't have been successful without you. Maybe we never thanked you enough. Maybe we weren't the best friends we could have been. But you always seemed so mature and intelligent... we never really thought that you could have problems. There's no excuse for this, but... even if we have not known you very well, we knew enough to be sure what kind of person you are."

"You care very much about people's well-being." Sora said, "And you always were ready to help us, and never asked anything in exchange. You were always so kind and patient, even when it would be understandable if you got upset. Now that I think about it, you must have gotten upset a lot of times, but never shared your feelings. You don't need to carry all the burden alone! Not anymore!"

"We're your friends! We care a lot about you and we would never be against you! Please, trust us, Izzy!" Joe added, "You're not alone! We're with you! You can do it!"

Grayman decided to walk toward Izzy too. He leaned over Izzy and did a surprising thing: he punched him hard.

"DAMN YOU, WHAT...?" Matt was stopped by Auri and Sora. Grayman was serious.

"Izumi, since the beginning I thought you were a weak and pathetic person who feared to be left alone and that hated life. You really pissed me off. But..."

**Flash-back:**

"What's the point of being like your mother?"

Grayman frowned, Izzy continued:

"What your mother did to you was wrong, I understand you were hurt, but... it's not a justification to treat people like-"

"Shut up, Izumi. You know nothing about it. You know nothing about people."

"I KNOW ENOUGH!" Izzy shouted, Grayman frowned again, in surprise, "PEOPLE... there are good people, you can't generalize. And, even when people do bad things... they can learn and... become better... change."

Grayman stared at Izzy for a while, then he spoke:

"You're pretty naive to believe in this kind of stuff. Or, maybe, you're just lying to yourself."

"Lying to myself... why would I..."

"You want to have some hope. You were ready to stay caught with me in my nightmare forever... it's not a thing a hopeful person does. It's an act of despair."

Izzy went pale, he wasn't liking the course the conversation was taking.

"I... I was concerned about you... I didn't want..."

"It may be true, Izumi. But why would you risk yourself for someone you barely know?"

"I... I would do that for anyone..."

Grayman was just observing how nervous Izzy was getting, then he spoke again:

"So you would risk your life for anyone. Is it because you think your life is the least important thing in the world? By thinking that kind of stuff, you really must hate your life."

**End of flash-back**

"But, you can prove to me now that people can change. If you really believe in that... if you really can prove that..." Charles stopped talking at that moment. He just couldn't continue. Weisheit was hearing everything. _Koushiro, don't underestimate yourself. You're stronger than you think... you're their son, after all_, he thought.

Under the huge amount of water and touching the gate, Izzy could hear every single word that was said. _They all are counting on me... they all believe in me... they would be so disappointed if they knew what I did. Sabine is fighting out there too. If she knew for what kind of coward she's fighting... please, Sabine, go away._

Sabine couldn't dodge the attacks anymore. She was hit three times, but was able to recover. Every time she recovered, she grabbed the sword again and stood up.

"How dumb can you be? Just give up, damn it! You still can save yourself. Why risk your life for someone like Koushiro? Do you know what he did?"

_NO!_ Izzy thought, _Don't tell her._

"If I had to guess." Sabine started, "I'd say that he gave up on life and gave you the control."

The Heart and Izzy were in shock.

"How did you know?" the Heart asked.

"He's under too much pressure, and the way he thinks just makes everything worse. He's not happy. He has not been happy for a long time. I think it was just a matter of time until he reached his limit."

_Sabine..._ Izzy was feeling horrible. The Heart stared at her.

"You understand, girl. It's just how he is. He's too coward to confront people. He avoids it at all costs. He's afraid of being hated and being left alone. All he does is hide himself and run away. So he continues to live a life he hates without complaint. And, by doing that, he sinks further into the darkness in his mind. Darkness he wanted to deny until the end. Darkness that would swallow him sooner or later. He's full with hatred and anger, a being who abandoned everything and everyone in the end and that is going to let you die here."

The Heart said all that in a dark way. Izzy heard everything from the other side of the gate. Sabine took a time before speaking.

"I can't deny that he's far from being a perfect person."

"THAT'S RIGHT! You can see now? Can you see why I want to leave this place?"

"Yes. It's because you're also a coward who likes to hide yourself. And right now, all you want is to run away from your problems. You're doing nothing more nothing less than trying to make real Koushiro's deepest and most desperate wishes."

"I want to become something better than this pathetic person. I stood up the best I could, but I can't be like this anymore. If I hadn't done anything, he would have destroyed himself completely... and destroyed me. He didn't overcome the pain. He never fought it at all. He became a thing that I-"

"So Koushiro was different." Sabine said abruptly, "He was different before he had found out he was adopted?"

"...the storm started that day. And he never did anything to stop it. Even when the Izumis talked to him... he didn't yell... he didn't say anything that would hurt them... I thought it would come, eventually... but things never changed. And I got tired of waiting in this place." Tears started to drop from the Heart's eyes, "I hate those people! I hate his life! I hate him and everything else! But I don't want this hatred anymore."

"So just do something about it. If you don't like the situation, change it somehow."

"I CAN'T DO THAT! I CAN'T DO THAT IF KOUSHIRO IS NOT ABLE TO CHANGE!"

"You just stay there crying and lying to yourself."

Sabine's comment made the Heart madder.

"Lying to myself? You mean what? That all what I told you were lies?"

"No. It's just that you don't understand the things and jump into simple conclusions. It's true that Koushiro is coward when it comes to open up to people and that he fears to be left alone. It's true either that he hates himself and his life. But by hating himself it doesn't mean he hates people..."

The Heart went pale with that. Izzy was astonished as well.

"And..." Sabine continued, "... by being a coward in some aspects of life, it doesn't mean he's a total coward. Koushiro cares about people. If he didn't, he would never handle his burden for so long. He wouldn't have saved us. If he gets tired sometimes... if he has weakness moments... if he needs to change... it doesn't matter. He's just as human as anyone else."

"How can you..." the Heart was confused, "...still want to fight for him? He's worthless."

"He... is important to me."

**Flash-back:**

"Sabine... I understand you."

"...you understand me?"

"I think we're similar, Sabine."

A light surprise appeared on the girl's face.

"You try to not worry people and act in order to not be left alone. You care about people enough to sacrifice your true self. In what it resembles me?" she asked.

"You said that everybody was distant. People were strangers to you. I have people who cares about me and that I care about... but nobody ever saw my true self. You were the first one. I got mad at you because I didn't want to accept you were saying the truth about me. And I didn't want to accept you were able to see beyond the 'me' I had built and showed to people almost my entire life. You saw me, Sabine. And now, I'm seeing you and I realize we're not as different as I had thought. Our essences are similar. I feel we're close.

**End of flash-back.**

"I never had any value to anyone. Any value at all. But, Koushiro worried about me. He cared and, for the first time in my life, I felt I wasn't alone... I felt I had something that was worthy. Something in me started to change. And, I guess something is changing in Koushiro too."

_What?_ Izzy was astonished. The Heart wasn't different. Sabine continued:

"Koushiro risked himself... he even took the risk to be hated by me when he told me about my mother, because it was more important to him that I knew that than that I could hate him. He was worried about me and went look for me then, what proves he thought that I could be hating him."

Sabine's eyes got wet. The Heart frowned. He didn't say a single word.

"Koushiro saved me in a way I can't even explain. And you think that he hates people? You're just a scared and confused child who doesn't understand-"

"SHUT UP!" the Heart shouted. He slapped Sabine and knocked her to the floor. Then, he started to kick her in fury.

"Enough with this nonsense, you stupid human! You know nothing! You understand nothing! I'm going to kill you!"

"If you wanted that, you would already have done it." Sabine said, "You don't like to hurt people, no matter how angry you are, because Koushiro is not like that."

"SO WATCH!" the Heart kicked her harder. Then, the Heart leaned over her and started to punch the girl. "Let's see if Koushiro cares enough to come here and save you!"

_Sabine..._ Izzy was thinking about everything he had heard from his friends, the Heart and Sabine. More! He was thinking about his own feelings. _Am I really as worthless and coward as I think?_

**Flash-back**

"You... sure reminds me of Shunsui. I bet, when I told you this some years ago, you thought I was talking about intelligence. But I wasn't."

Koushiro was hearing.

"You're a person with an incredible gift. You are able to forgive and love unconditionally, like he was. There are very few people like you in the world, Koushiro."

**End of flash-back**

_A lot of times, people said that I was insensitive. But I always did what I thought it was the right thing. A long time ago, in those ruins, I ignored Mimi... but it was because I believed it was more important to decipher the ruins, what could help the group. When I was lost with Tai in that subway in Mugendramon's city, I told him that we needed to rest, even knowing he wouldn't like it. He punched me, but he apologized later and I forgave him. I always end up forgiving people, but not because I want them to like me... it's because I want the best for them. I don't hate people at all. But, I shouldn't have been so good all the time. I should have told them when I was hurt or sad... I should have had more confidence in people and shared what I felt. I still fear rejection, even if it doesn't stop me from helping people. This fear... is destroying me and the Heart. He's me, after all. He'll have no peace until I do something about the problem. I made many stupid decisions in my life... but it's pointless to blame myself now!_

Izzy stood up with difficulty. He started to punch the gate.

_Sabine is in danger. I abandoned her, my family and my friends. And jus__t because Tai told me some unpleasant things. I know Tai is wrong, it's not the first time he does something stupid. Well, he will eventually find out the truth and I will forgive him. But, this time, I will let him know what I feel._

Izzy's punches were getting stronger. The gate and the walls were shaking. That caught the Heart's and Sabine's attention.

"What is happening?" the Heart asked, in panic.

"Koushiro..." Sabine whispered.

BLAM!

_No more wrong decisions!_

BLAM!

_No more weakness!_

BLAM!

_No more resignation!_

BLAM!

_No more__ fear! This time...this time..._

The gate and the walls collapsed. They were destroyed. Hot steam came from that direction. Izzy was standing, looking to the Heart, with a furious and determined look.

_This time..__I WILL NOT HIDE MYSELF OR RUN AWAY!_

The Heart turned to see Koushiro. _The sea... evaporated... what did Koushiro do?_

"HEART! GET AWAY FROM SABINE AND COME FIGHT ME!" Izzy ordered.

"What?"

"We have issues to resolve. I promise you..." Izzy's voice was firm, as it never had been before, "...everything will change today. But if you don't want me as your king anymore, you'll have to fight!"

"Koushiro, you're... serious about this." The Heart was recovering from the shock. He gave Izzy a weird smile, "Okay, so! Let's fight!"

Back to Matt's apartment, Joe gave Sabine the rest of the healing substance.

"Now it's over." Charles said, "If she gets hurt again, we don't have more healing substance... what is with that face, Weisheit?"

Weisheit had, suddenly, gone pale. He was staring at Koushiro as if he couldn't believe in something.

"Something happened. The energy flow is weird."

"What do you mean?" Joe asked.

"It's messed... disturbed." Weisheit said.

Suddenly, Izzy's fists got harmed, as if they had punched something. Small bruises were appearing on his body.

"What the hell is happening?" Sora asked.

"It's as if... could Izzy be fighting in his inner world?" Auri asked, "You know, the real Izzy. These wounds look like the ones you get in a fight."

"Koushiro's conscience woke up and is fighting the Heart." Weisheit was thinking in loud voice. "It would explain the change in the energy flow. And if they started to fight each other, it also explains why Sabine is not getting hurt anymore."

"Wait a second! It means that if Izumi gets killed in his inner world, he also will die for real, right?" Charles asked.

"Probably." Weisheit answered.

"So, why didn't the Heart kill him, if he could? Why didn't he kill Izumi to escape from his body?" Charles asked again.

"Maybe the Heart was afraid of fighting Koushiro." Weisheit said.

"Why?" Matt asked.

"It's Koushiro's inner world, after all. It's a place ruled by Koushiro's feelings and thoughts. If Koushiro's heart becomes strong enough... I believe he can be able to beat the Heart in that world." Weisheit explained.

Sabine was watching the unbelievable battle between Izzy and the Heart. Some sort of hot energy was coming from Izzy's interior, what made the air next to him warm. Izzy's punches and kicks were powerful enough to break walls and the ground. The Heart was getting desperate. He threw at Izzy all the sorts of energy attacks he had, but none of them reached the boy. The hot energy coming from him was blocking the attacks. All the Heart could do was punch Izzy few times. But he got more damaged than the other when he did that. Izzy was attacking without mercy.

"How can you...?" The Heart tried to talk, after being thrown against the ground, "How can you be so strong now?"

"I just realized some truths. I can't avoid this darkness anymore. I can't pretend everything is fine anymore. I'm tired of this. I decided to change."

"Change? You can't change! I don't believe in that!"

The Heart was trying to punch Izzy. But Izzy was moving too fast. _Why can't I reach him? Why is he so strong? Is this his willpower? He always had such strong heart? No, it's not possible! He can't have this self-confidence and determination! He's weak and pathetic and..._

The Heart was knocked to the ground by a punch in his stomach. He couldn't move anymore. Koushiro approached him, lifted him and made him sit.

"I won, didn't I?" the boy asked.

"I can't accept this. It can't be!"

"Accept it, Heart. It's over."

"You're not strong. You're not brave! This can't be happening."

"Stop it." Izzy said, "Don't you understand? You're still stuck in a little world made of yours fears... our fears. You need to stop to feed it. If you don't try, you'll be stuck forever."

"I WAS STUCK BECAUSE OF YOU! IT'S NOT MY FAULT!"

"But I'm free now. If you want to continue stuck, it will be your responsibility."

"SHUT UP!" The Heart tried to slap Izzy, but the boy grabbed his hand and stopped it.

"I'm sorry for making this to you, Heart. I'm sorry for all your anger. But it's time to let it go. Haven't you been waiting for the moment I would decide to overcome the pain?" Izzy offered his right hand to the Heart, "I promise you I will never deny my darkness again. From now on, I'll turn it into strength to fight. I promise you I'll become something better."

The Heart suddenly felt something warm on his face. There was a bundle of light coming from the sky. But it had nothing to do with his power. Lots of bundles were coming.

"It's... the sun. The sun is back." the Heart muttered. He hadn't seen that sun in years. The dark sky was being replaced by a blue one. The sun was getting brighter and stronger. The Heart stood up and started to cry in emotion.

"My king..." he said, "I thought that my king had died a long time ago."

"You can say that your king came back from death." Izzy told him, smiling.

Sabine was approaching them. She and Izzy exchanged some looks. They couldn't find the right words. Sabine grabbed one of Izzy's hands and gave him a smile. Izzy thought that smile was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

"Let's go back, Koushiro." the girl suggested.

"Yes!" the boy agreed with a large smile. A smile Sabine knew it wasn't fake.

"Wait, Koushiro." the Heart called him, "Before you leave, I have to tell you something."

"What is it?" Izzy asked.

"I'm going to tell you the truth about me and my real connection with Unschuld."

**This chapter was decisive for Izzy. Next chapter there will be some explanations. The story is getting closer to its good part. ^^**


	16. Of what dreams are made

Thank you for the reviews, I couldn't be happier! *_*

**Chapter 16: Of what dreams are made**

The Heart walked to a place beyond the limits of the walls and asked Izzy to follow him. Sabine went too. Izzy could notice that the walls were metallic, technological. _This is my inner world. Since I love technology, it's not strange that there are these things here_, he thought. After they crossed the ruins of what had once been a castle, they reached a small white door. The door was on the edge of the land. Behind it, there was only a dark precipice that surrounded Izzy's inner world. Nothing could be seen in the distance, just darkness.

"But the sky is turning blue again." Izzy started, looking to the sky, where some paths of light shone, "Why the light doesn't reach the precipice?"

"Don't think that all the darkness in your mind will go away, it's not possible." the Heart said, "But that's not the case here. The sun light doesn't reach the precipice because it's not part of your inner world."

"What?" Izzy was astonished.

"I'll show you." The Heart took a stone and threw it in the precipice. One minute later, the same stone fell from the sky, on the land. Then, the Heart threw the stone to his front. One minute later, the stone came from behind them and reached a small wall.

"Incredible." Izzy whispered.

"As you can see, nothing that belongs to your inner world can leave it." the Heart informed, "No matter how many times you try to throw something in the precipice, it will always return. The same way, nothing that belongs to that place can reach this world... or almost nothing."

"Almost nothing?" Sabine asked.

"Do you see this door?" The Heart pointed to the small white door, "This door is the only connection between this world and that place. It has been closed since I remember."

"You keep talking about a certain _other place_. What is this _place_, after all?" Izzy asked.

"Well, do you remember when I told you about the Digital World's heart?" the Heart asked.

**Flash-back**

"That's right, I forgot to introduce myself. As I don't really have someone to talk to, I think I talked too much. Well, we've been together since the day you were born. I think I was born that day too. But before we came together, I wasn't an 'I', I was more like an 'it', do you understand? In fact, I don't really have a physical form, I'm more like energy... and information. If I'm able to have a conscience now, it's thanks to you. Oh, I didn't answer your question, I'm sorry. Well, to be honest, I don't know exactly what I am, but I know that I'm more than this part that is within you. But this part of me is the most important part."

Izzy was still speechless. After a while, he said:

"Is it as if I shared my body with your mind?"

"You're really smart, Koushiro, I always knew that. But our relationship is a bit more complex. I am you. My whole personality was shaped by the time I spent with you. Without you I would be just energy and information. I don't want to be like that anymore. I tried to protect you, you know? Protect you from my essence, but it's difficult. You and I are the same, if I was able to see that code on the wall, you also could. Now that all this happened, I assume that you no longer will have peace, Koushiro. Me neither. I'm sorry."

"What are you talking about?"

"They probably will come after us to unite me to the central code. I don't think you can survive the process."

"Who are you talking about? Why do they want to do that?"

The other Izzy gave him a sad smile and said:

"The central code is in the core of the Digital World. It was where this world began. All the codes of Digital World are connected to the central code. If someone controls the central code, this someone will control the entire Digital World and all the digimons. But, in order to control the central code, it's necessary to control its core and unite it to the central code. And I, Koushiro," he looked at Izzy, "or better said, we... are the core of the central code."

Izzy was in shock, the other Izzy continued:

"We are the heart of the Digital World."

**End of flash-back**

"Yes, I remember." Izzy said.

"Well. I haven't told you all what I knew." the Heart confessed, "In fact, not everything that I said was true."

"What?" Izzy asked. The Heart prepared himself to explain better:

"First of all, that room in which you had been trapped in that mountain... I lied when I told you it was the Digital World's core, where the central code was."

Izzy was speechless. Sabine was just watching them.

"That's not possible. What about the things I felt? Weisheit had said that place was the central code too!"

"Weisheit really believed in that. The only ones who know the truth are me and Unschuld. That place was the core a long time ago. The place where the Digital World began, that was connected to the other codes. But the central code is not there anymore. It's just a place in which a small part of the code remained, and this small part reacted with my code."

"So, what happened to the real central code?" Sabine asked.

"The day of the incident at that institution. Do you remember what those scientists were trying to do?" the Heart asked her.

"They were trying to prove the Multiverse Theory." Sabine answered.

"That's right." the Heart said, "Do you know how?"

Sabine took a while before answering:

"The M Theory, or Multiverse Theory is officially considered impossible to prove. The theory says that the universe can't be explained by Mathmatics without admitting the existence of parallel universes to our own. Our universe is like a bubble floating in a space near endless other bubbles. And each bubble is considered an entire universe, equal to or bigger than ours. The concept has its foundations in Cosmology and Quantum Theory, involving many ideas from the Relativity Theory, in a way that may be possible the existence of universes in which all possible quantum events can happen. There's enough space for these universes in a bigger dimensional structure: the Multiverse. It's said that some of these universes may be connected to black holes or wormholes. But Quantum Theory is in its most theoretical, making it impossible for the time being any kind of technical proof, like a visible proof of the concept of Multiverse. The Multiverse Theory is deeply complex. It proposes that the Multiverse is growing through a series of big bangs for a long time and will continue to grow. It also proposes that the laws of Physics can be different in each universe."

"But, I thought that the scientists were trying to prove the theory." Izzy said, "And it was 1989. If it's impossible, what did they do?"

"The details of the experiment that caused the incident were hidden. Nothing is said about it. So I don't know what they did." Sabine answered.

"But you understand a lot about Physics, right?" The Heart asked Sabine.

"Yes. I'm part of the Physic's club of the institution."

"Physic's club?" Izzy asked.

"It's normal for young students to join clubs in their interest areas-"

"Back to the topic!" The Heart warned, "How do you think it would be the best way to prove the Multiverse Theory?"

"Well, it would be, I guess, if it was found or built a wormhole big enough to let someone go to another universe."

"Exactly." The Heart said. Sabine and Izzy frowned.

"Wait! Are you saying that those scientists made a wormhole that connected to another universe in 1989?" Izzy asked, "It's not possible!"

"Of course it is." The Heart told him, "They had discovered an accessible world by that time and tried to build a path to that world."

"What do you mean with 'accessible world?'" Sabine asked.

"A world that was created a long time ago when the first computer was built. A world that was near your universe. You really don't know about what I'm talking?"

"The Digital World." Izzy whispered, "But, isn't the Digital World a part of the Earth? A world in the Earth's computer network?"

"Digital World is shaped by Earth's computer network. But there's a problem with the space. Do you really think strange monsters could exist in the network and could come to the real world? Or that human children could suddenly become data and survive in the network, and then come back as if nothing had happened? Going further, do you think in a world in the computer network, mere human feelings could turn to energy and make monsters evolve or miracles happen?" The Heart was talking fast.

"What's your point?" Izzy asked.

"The Digital World was born with the computer network and is deeply connected with Earth by the network. But it belongs to a parallel universe with its own laws. A different universe connected to yours and maybe some others. Or maybe there are even parallel Digital Worlds. I think you understood my point." The Heart explained.

Izzy and Sabine kept thinking about it for a while. The Heart decided to continue:

"That night, they used the most modern computers and programs that they had built for that experiment. The plan was simple: open a gate to the Digital World, like the digidestineds do with their digivices. But something really wrong happened. Instead of making a path, the programs created a huge instability in the Digital World. Wormholes started to open there and great amount of energy and information came from different universes and gathered in the central code. The density of that was increasing fast. At the moment it reached a state that the Digital World couldn't afford, it was swallowed."

"What do you mean with 'swallowed?'" Izzy asked.

"I think he means that the amount of energy and information was so dense that escaped from the Digital World and created a new dimension for itself." Sabine explained. The Heart started to talk again:

"The event had consequences in the Digital World. Almost the entire central code was moved to the new dimension. The wormholes closed. Except one. The one that connected the Digital World to Earth. Do you know what happens to a greatly condensed amount of energy that creates other dimension for itself?"

"It starts to expand, originating a universe." Sabine answered.

"You mean... like a Big Bang?" Izzy asked in a whisper.

"Yes. It was when I was born." The Heart said, "But I was a part of a bigger thing yet. The time of 'our' birth, a small 'wave' of the big bang traveled through that wormhole and reached the scientists. For them, it was a light. This 'wave' passed through them, until reach something. When the 'wave' reached you, Koushiro, who wasn't even born yet, something happened. It was when a part of that 'all' that I call 'me' became one with you. Since then, I live in your inner world."

Silence. Izzy put his hands on his head and thought for a while. Sabine seemed to be in deep meditation as well. After five minutes, Izzy decided to ask the obvious:

"So, you're saying... you were part of a universe? A universe with stars and everything else?"

"Of course not, pay attention, Koushiro!" The Heart said, "Each universe has its own rules. My universe is not like your universe. If I had to define it, I'd say it is more like the World of Dreams."

Silence. Sabine decided to ask:

"World of Dreams?"

"Right, you don't know this concept." The Heart said, "OK! I just have to explain. The World of Dreams is a subjective World. It is, actually, like a subjective multiverse, in which each one of the universes corresponds to a person's inner world. It's a world connected to people's brains, but it is also, at the same time, a parallel universe."

"But dreams are made by biological processes. They can't belong to a parallel universe!" Izzy said. The Heart continued:

"Right now, we are in a World of Dreams. But if Weisheit tried to see us, all he could see would be energy in Koushiro's brain. It is true that your brain makes your feelings and thoughts. But it also is connected to another world, purely symbolic. The reason why Weisheit is not able to see your inner world is because he doesn't have the ability to see things that belong to other universes. As the Digital World is a world of data based on Earth's network, the World of Dreams is a subjective world based on people's feelings and thoughts. The universe I belong to is subjective as well and is deeply connected to the World of Dreams. Probably because it is also connected to the Digital World."

"What does the Digital World have to do with the World of Dreams?" Izzy asked. He wished he could formulate appropriate questions with all the doubts that were appearing in his mind.

"I thought you had, at least, deduced this." The Heart said, "Since the Digital World is shaped by the information produced in the computer network, and that information reflects a lot of people's desires, it is just natural that Digital World is closely related to the World of Dreams. Do you remember all the times feelings and thoughts made digimons evolve? That is a proof. It is almost a poetic thing. The digimons are, in the end, like a reflection of people's dreams."

"Wow." Sabine said, serious, "It's probably the craziest thing I've ever heard."

"Wait!" after a while processing the information, Izzy finally spoke again, "Weren't you going to tell me your true connection with Unschuld? You brought us to this door and began to talk about Multiverse, Digital World and World of Dreams... but, what about Unschuld?"

"That door is the only connection between this place and my original universe, Koushiro." The Heart said, pointing to the door.

"The subjective universe, where it is the Digital World's central code and that is deeply connected to the World of Dreams." Izzy muttered. The Heart continued:

"Exactly. As you know, my conscience is based on your personality, or on your inner world, if you prefer. It's not different with the other part. The Digital World is shaped by the World of Dreams. For example, the dark sea, a dimension of the Digital World, is made by the dark feelings of people. So, the central code is related to the World of Dreams as well."

"Sea?" Izzy suddenly asked himself if it was a coincidence that the darkness in his mind also had formed a kind of sea.

"But I can't really say if that sea and the rest of the Digital World are like that because of the entire World of Dreams or the one that had originated _her_ self." The Heart said. Izzy and Sabine frowned.

"Her self?" the boy asked.

"If she was a result of billions of inner worlds, it would be impossible for her to develop a single 'self.' That's why I believe she had her personality based on someone's personality. Probably a scientist that was in that laboratory when the incident happened. While 'I' was attracted by your inner world in formation, she must have had some contact with an inner world of an adult. Probably, at the same time the wave reached you and I was pulled by your mind, she had contact with this person's mind. But they didn't become one because it was impossible for the 'body' to leave our dimension that time. Even now, if she did it, she would just bring instability to any world she entered." The Heart was talking fast.

"HEART!" Izzy yelled, "Who's 'she?' What 'body' are you talking about?"

The Heart analyzed Izzy for a while. Then, he said:

"I thought it was obvious. I'm a 'heart,' so I'm talking about the body I belong to: the universe created by the incident. And when I say 'she,' I'm referring to the body, the universe, the Digital World's central code, it doesn't matter how you call her. But she calls herself... Unschuld."

"No." Izzy refused to believe in that, "You're lying! This can't be true! You told me you were the heart of the Digital World and that Unschuld wanted to unite you with the central code to control it. If she's the central code, why would she...? It doesn't make sense. Nothing in your story makes sense! It's illogical to even think that the central code would be in another universe outside the Digital World!"

"I already explained that! It's not just the central code, but also a large amount of information and energy of other universes that came from the wormholes. It originated a subjective universe connected to the Digital World and the World of Dreams. I'm sorry for not having told you the whole story before. But nobody besides me and Unschuld knows her true identity."

"It's nonsense!" Izzy was too confused.

"It makes a lot of sense, if you stop to think about it." Sabine said, "But if Unschuld is the central code, she doesn't need Izzy to control the Digital World, right?"

"Yes. But I don't believe she wants to control anything." The Heart replied, "All she wants is to be complete again. She wants her heart back."

"How do you know that?" Izzy asked suddenly.

The Heart pointed to the white door and said:

"Sometimes I can hear her. She cries a lot and talks to herself. Even creating 'brothers' and 'sisters' and giving them her powers... none of them is strong enough to live with her in that place. The loneliness hurts. For her, having me back is like a last hope, a way out of her misery."

"So you feel sorry for her?" Izzy asked.

"I understand her. But I don't want to give myself to her. It would be like become an 'it' again. She has a lot of stability already. After all these years, she never lost her original self, even not sharing a body with a human. But it's just a shadow of someone, not a complete self. She thinks she can be complete again by having me."

Izzy couldn't talk anymore. It was too much information. But Sabine asked a thing:

"You said that Unschuld made brothers and sisters and gave her powers to them. You're talking about Mr. Dream and the others, right? If she gave her powers, it means she's less powerful now?"

"No. She just made they have abilities like hers in a lower level. While their powers are limited to one world, Unschuld's powers are practically unlimited." The Heart answered.

"How do we fight someone like her?" Izzy asked.

"I have no idea. But I think that you're the only person who actually has some chance to reach her. You have her heart, after all." The Heart said with a smile. Izzy wasn't feeling very confident. Sabine grabbed his hand and told him:

"Don't worry. We'll find the answer."

"I hope so." Izzy smiled at her, feeling a little better, "We should go back now."

"Yes. Let's talk to the others. Maybe they have some clue."

"Even if they don't, I want to talk to them. I feel that I'm going to become crazy if I don't share this with more people."

"It's good to hear that, Koushiro." The Heart commented, "It's good to see that you don't want to end like a good king who dies alone in a tower because he doesn't want to worry others."

"What?" Izzy asked.

"Never mind. It's just a story a little girl made up a long time ago." The Heart replied, enigmatically.

"I think I'm going to ask Wesheit for some advice." Izzy said, "He must have something useful to teach me, I mean, he was able to hide himself from Unschuld all this time."

"That's true. We must worry now about the things we can do. And we'll do our best in order to make everything work well in the end." Sabine said with confidence.

Before Izzy and Sabine used the ring to go back, the boy asked one more thing to the Heart:

"Have you told us all what you knew?"

Without looking to him, the Heart said "yes."

"You talked about a person that originated Unschuld's personality." Sabine had a doubt too, "Do you have any clue about who this person was?"

Still without looking to them, the Heart said "no." Sabine and Izzy left. In the real world, they would have to deal with Weisheit, the rest of the association and three digidestineds, besides their digimons and the three digimons that followed Weisheit. Soon they would discuss everything, what would make everybody shocked and worried. Joe also would tell them what had happened in the meeting with the other digidestineds. After discussing everything, they would think about what they could do with the situation.

The Heart lay on the ground and admired the sun. He was thinking.

_I didn't tell him all what I knew. But if I had told him who was the person who originated Unschuld's self, the rain would return. I've lived too much time with that rain, I don't want it back. But I know it's inevitable. Koushiro will find out someday... but until this day comes, I'll enjoy this sun the best I can._

Meanwhile, in a big garden, a woman in a white dress was sitting on the grass. She was staring at a big tree with a sad face.

"What are you doing, beauty?" A man approached her by her back. The woman turned her head to see him.

"Just thinking." she said.

"Were you possessing that girl again?" the man asked.

"I don't possess her. I just control her body from distance."

"And the difference is...?"

"What do you want?" the woman stood up and turned to the man. The man smiled at her.

"You know you can't do it." he said.

"What do you mean?"

"Even if your plan become successful, do you really think you can execute it?"

The woman stayed in silence. The man hugged her tightly. The woman hugged him back:

"I'll have my heart back." she said, "Everything will be just fine then."

"Will it?"

"..."

"Don't think you can fool me, sweetheart. I'm not Glaube or Friede. No matter how many times you try, you can't lie to me."

"Shut up!" she ordered, pushing him away, "_He_ would understand me. _He_ would support me."

"You know it's not true. If it was, you wouldn't be afraid of making something better than me."

The man hugged her again and whispered in her ear.

"You made me to love you. No matter how much I look like him in my appearance, you can't make me like him inside because you know that if you did it, _he_ would hate you with his entire soul."

The woman couldn't take that anymore. She slapped the man, who fell to the ground and disappeared, becoming white light.

"I'll have everything. Once I get my heart, everything will be fine..." she said angrily, "What have I done? I destroyed that one too, Siebenundzwanzig."

She gathered some light on her hands and put it on the ground. The light took the shape of the same man that had disappeared.

"I see." he said, "I'm Achtundzwanzig, aren't me?"

The woman approached him and kissed him on the lips. "I'm sorry," she said.

"You're beautiful." The man told her, "What's your name?"

"You can call me Innocence." she whispered.

_I'll have everything. No matter what it takes_, she thought. She held his hand and they stayed like that for a time that can't be measured.

**This chapter was very diffic****ult, even being smaller than some others. I really made some research about the Multiverse Theory, but some other things came from some symbolism present in Digimon and my own insane mind (when I read again the part where I related Multiverse Theory, Digital World, World of Dreams and Unschuld I thought **_**now they'll know for sure how crazy I am**_**). I know it was more an explicative chapter than an action chapter, but the action will return soon.**


	17. No matter what happens

Long time. Sorry. Thank you for the reviews, you're very kind!

**Chapter 17: No matter what happens**

Some children were running in a garden, happily. There were three girls and three boys. The garden was part of a property, where there was a big house used as an orphanage. One of the girls sat on the grass, tired.

"What is it? Stand up, Felicity!" a younger girl said.

"I'm tired, I'm going to rest a little. Not everyone has your energy."

The girl laughed. A girl with braid, who was the oldest among them, approached the other two.

"It's getting dark. We should go back inside."

"Aw." one of the boys protested. "You always want to order us, Cosette!"

"Don't worry, Jo!" the youngest girl said, "She'll pay for that. In my next story, Cosette will be the youngest of the group and everybody will order her."

"Even me?" a little boy with black hair asked. He was the youngest of the group.

"I don't know, Klaus, maybe." the girl said.

"Hey, about what the story is?" a boy with brow hair asked, "I hope there is a lot of drama."

"Why do you like drama so much, Friedrich?" Jo asked, "Isn't it enough weird playing with dolls?"

"You understand nothing, Jo! I'm practicing to become a great writer some day. Besides, I love dramatic and sad stories."

"OK, OK!" the youngest girl said, "I had not thought about drama yet, I just made up some characters. There are six of them."

"Like us?" Klaus asked.

"That's right!" she replied, "They are six powerful gods, with unique abilities."

"Which one would I be?" Jo asked.

"You would be the third strongest: Faith, the most loyal of them, and you would have an amazing destructive power."

"I'm the third?" Jo asked, disappointed.

"You have a problem with it?" the girl asked. The boy blushed and said:

"Of course not! Whatever you decide is fine for me. You... you have a fantastic imagination."

"You are so sweet." the girl said, smiling. The boy blushed again, "Friedrich, you would be the fourth, Dream. You would have power over people's minds."

"Cool!" Friedrich exclamed, "I can play with their minds and explore their feelings?"

"Sure, why not?" she said, "Cosette, you..."

"I know, I'll be the youngest. What a silly revenge."

"Well, you would be the fifth, Peace. You try to avoid combats and unnecessary deaths."

"Good for me." Cosette mocked.

"You, Klaus, would be the sixth." the girl told the little boy.

"I'm the weakest?" the little boy asked.

"Well, you would be the smartest. And you would have special eyes, able to see the truth."

"What about the first and the second?" Felicity asked. The other girl smiled:

"You would be the second, Felicity. You would be Life and would have the ability to cure and over life and death. I'd be the first, but I haven't chosen my name yet."

"So I'll choose for you." Felicity said. "You would Innocence. You would have the ability to make dreams become true."

"Innocence?" the girl asked.

"Yes. Because you have a pure heart and care about your family more than anything."

Friedrich thought that it was strange.

"Family? None of us has family. That's why we live in an orphanage."

"That's not true!" the youngest girl said, "You guys are my family. You'll always be."

A woman opened her eyes suddenly. She was lying over the grass. _These memories again_, she thought. She heard a voice calling her.

Glaube and Friede were in the room where the tissue cylinder was. Leben was entering the room.

"Leben!" the voice inside the tissue said, "You haven't come here there's a while."

"You sent Friede tell me that you would dry my garden if I didn't appear this time." Leben said coldly. "What do you want?"

A light came from the tissue and gathered around one of Leben's wrists. A silver bracelet appeared there.

"I already had given a bracelet to Glaube and Friede. With these bracelets, you're able to travel to the human world any time you want."

"Why are you giving this to me?" Leben asked.

"Friede has already begun the preparations. The operation shall begin soon." Unschuld said.

"Preparations? Operation?" Leben was confused.

"Our next move." Unschuld said, "Soon, the Heart will be brought here. Everybody must be prepared."

Leben was in silence. Then, she asked:

"I still don't know why you gave me this. Are you expecting me to cooperate?"

"Of course not." Unschuld told her, "I just thought that it would be easier for you if you had one of these bracelets. You know, to not bother Weisheit to come pick you up whenever you want to pass him information."

Glaube and Friede were in shock. He ran toward Leben, trying to hit her with his spear, but he stopped suddenly. He couldn't breathe.

"What are you doing, Glaube?" Leben asked, "Are you forgetting who I am?"

"Lady Unschuld." Friede called Unschuld when Glaube fell to the ground, breathless. "Do something! Kill Leben!"

"I prefer to avoid killing members of my family." Unschuld said. Leben made Glaube breathe again.

"I see." Leben spoke, "That's why you haven't killed Weisheit until now, right?"

Glaube turned to the tissue, pale.

"You said that you couldn't find him, so you couldn't kill him." he said, "You lied to us?"

"You really believed Unschuld couldn't find Weisheit?" Leben asked, "How stupid are you? Of course she could find him. If she was able to find the Heart, what would stop her from finding Weisheit?"

Glaube was in shock.

"What are you talking about?" he asked, "She had no idea where the Heart was, that's why she hasn't done anything to the human world for 14 years!"

"So you think that the fact the Heart was a digidestined was just coincidence?" Leben asked, "The real question is why Unschuld, even knowing the location of the Heart, never did anything to take him. Why did she wait until you return from wherever you were since Weisheit beat you?"

"Enough, Leben!" Unschuld ordered, "Don't make me punish you!"

Leben headed for the exit. Glaube was going to follow her.

"Glaube!" Unschuld yelled, "Why are you going after her? Don't tell me your faith in me is that weak."

"I'll never lose my faith." Glaube said, offended, "I will follow you no matter what, because I just live for you."

After saying that, Glaube went after Leben. He found her standing and looking at a locked door in a hall.

"Say, Glaube." Leben began, "Have you ever wanted to see what there is behind this door?"

"Lady Unschuld forbade us to go in there." He said.

"But you want to know what she hides there, don't you? You want to understand."

"I don't like your attitude, Leben. Why are you so rebellious? You and Weisheit will suffer in the future for your heretical acts."

"Heretical acts?" Leben asked "What do you consider a heretical act?"

"Anything that Lady Unschuld would not accept... or anything that would hurt her heart."

"You care a lot about her, don't you?" Leben asked. "Even not knowing what she truly desires. Could you ever abandon her?"

"I always will be on her side. I stayed on her side when she wanted to kill all the human beings. I stayed on her side when she decided only those scientists should die. I stayed on her side even when she decided that woman should die."

"You never lost your hope that she would reconsider and decide to destroy the human world. And you didn't kill just that woman. You killed _him_ too. And because of that, you were punished."

Glaube went pale. Leben continued:

"I know what she did to your body. You must know she could have restored your body to what it was before, but instead-"

"You don't understand-"

"She locked your mind for 14 years in this body. And you would have stayed like that if the incident in that mountain never had happened. But you woke up and found Weisheit. She had no choice but to send Traum there and make up some ridiculous excuse that only you would believe. She doesn't care about you, Glaube. She doesn't care about the Digital World or the human world. All she wants is what she never had the courage to pick up."

"It doesn't even make sense." Glaube said. Leben faced him with a mysterious look.

"Since when a woman's feelings make sense?" she asked, sad. "You disagree with her many times. You confront her. There's still time for leaving her. Glaube, please, leave Unschuld before it's too late for you."

"I will never leave her."

"YOU DON'T MEAN ANYTHING TO HER ANYMORE!"

"IT DOESN'T MATTER!" Glaube shouted. "I don't care about what she thinks about me. I don't care about her contradictions. I'll serve her forever. I live to serve her... and I don't mind dying to protect her."

Leben was with a sad face. Glaube turned his back to her and walked toward Unschuld's room.

"I could kill you right now if I wanted to!" Leben screamed, "I could tell Weisheit the secret about your body! But I would never do that. Ask me why, Glaube!"

Silence. Leben yelled again:

"ASK ME WHY!"

"I don't care about what you think." Glaube said coldly, without turning around.

"Don't talk to me like that. I'm superior to you."

"You may be superior to me, but you're nothing compared to Lady Unschuld. Compare you to her is like comparing a stray dog to a goddess."

Leben faced the ground. Anger began to grow in her heart. She whispered to herself:

"If that's the case. I'll bring your goddess down, no matter what."

In Izzy's apartment, Izzy was sleeping on the living room's couch. After returning with Sabine from his inner world, he talked to his friends and to his parents. At night, he offered his bed to Sabine sleep. She refused at first, but Izzy insisted and she ended up accepting. Izzy talked to his friends and family about everything that had happened in his inner world. His doubts, his fears, his feelings and his resolution. It felt good to let it all out, but there was still some concern about the other's reaction. Auri was touched by his story, and said that he shouldn't feel bad because of his moments of weakness, since everybody had those moments. Grayman didn't express his opinion, neither the digimons. Weisheit didn't talk, but he had a worried look on his face. Matt scolded Izzy for not telling his friends about his problems. Sora and Joe did the same. Izzy felt bad about it, but they said it didn't matter anymore, as long as he becomes more open with them. Izzy agreed and apologized for everything, giving them a honest smile. In his apartment, his parents had a different reaction. They blamed themselves and apologized for making Izzy feel that way. Izzy took several minutes to make them understand that was in the past now and he was going to be different. Tentomon wasn't in his home when he and Sabine returned.

Early in the morning, someone knocked on the apartment's door. Izzy woke up and headed for the door to see who was there. Surprisingly, Mimi and Joe were standing there. The girl hugged Izzy and started talking:

"Izzy! Joe sent me an e-mail last night and told me everything. I'm so sorry for you! Palmon and I took an airplane to Tokyo the same night!"

"What?" Izzy wasn't understanding the situation. Joe entered the apartment and began to explain:

"I sent Mimi an e-mail last night. This morning she appeared at my door. She didn't have a place to stay, so I offered mine and... well, here we are."

"Why did you send her an e-mail in the first place?" Izzy asked. Joe blushed a little, but answered:

"Grayman told me last night to keep the 'double agent' thing. I don't like lying, even if it is for a good cause. I was stressed and... kind of... needed some support, so..."

"Joe was so worried that he needed to talk to someone. He sent me an e-mail. I couldn't stay in the USA knowing the situation, so I asked my parents to let me come."

"And they just let?" Izzy asked.

"Obviously I had to convince them. But I came! And I'm here to help you!" Mimi smiled. Izzy turned to Joe and asked to talk to him privately.

"Okay!" The older boy agreed reluctantly, "In your room?"

"No, Sabine is there, sleeping, I thought about your hom-"

"THERE'S A GIRL SLEEPING IN YOUR ROOM?" Mimi asked. She never imagined she would ever hear Izzy saying something like that.

"N-no! It's not what you think." Izzy said embarrassed. Sabine opened the room's door and went to the living room. She was wearing shorts and a large shirt.

"Koushiro, what's going on here?" she asked. Izzy didn't know what to do. Mimi seemed to have fun with the situation.

"I told Sabine to sleep in my room, I slept on the couch." he finally explained.

"And who is she?" Mimi asked.

"Well, she-" Izzy began. Sabine interrupted:

"We used to sleep together."

"Yes." Izzy said, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Sabine, what the...?"

Meanwhile, Weisheit was on the roof with Persefonemon. Suddenly, a light gate appeared and Leben came out. "We need to talk," she said, "It's important!"

After a good conversation, Izzy was able to explain everything. Mimi was having fun with the situation she had put Izzy in, but then began to speak in a more serious way:

"I came to help and, no matter what you say to dissuade me, I'm not leaving."

"Do you understand you will be in great danger?" Izzy asked.

"Yes, but I'm not going to abandon my friends." She stated with a smile, then she smiled at Joe, what made him blush. Sabine was studying Mimi.

"You are what people call 'a pretty girl,' right?" the German girl asked.

"Hum, yes I think so." Mimi answered nicely, "But you're cute too, isn't she, Izzy?"

"Ah, well, y-yes." Izzy blushed a little. Sabine didn't seem to understand his reaction. "She's beautiful." he said in low voice, nobody heard that. Mimi seemed to understand something that Izzy and Sabine, despite their intelligence, still could not see.

"Hey, Sabine. I could make something with your hair later-" – Mimi began to talk, but a sword appeared on the living room's floor. A few seconds later, Weisheit teleported there.

"Koushiro, we have to... who's this girl?" Weisheit was staring at Mimi.

"I thought you were watching, how didn't you see her coming?" Sabine asked.

"Maybe he has fallen asleep." Joe suggested.

"I haven't... it doesn't matter!" Weisheit was embarrassed, "Koushiro, come with me! I'm going to train you!"

"What?" Izzy asked in disbelief.

"I'm going to teach you how to use the black mithiryl. It can save your life in a battle. We can do it on the roof. Let's go!"

Izzy was still astonished. _Has something happened to him to be in such a hurry?_ He agreed to go with Weisheit. Weisheit grabbed Izzy's arm and made them be teleported to the roof. Sabine, Joe and Mimi just watched. On the roof, Weisheit began to explain to Izzy what the black mithiryl was:

"The black mithiryl follows specific computer programs. The simpler you can memorize and use to teleport to different places in a same dimension or hit the core of a digimon's body to create an instability able to destroy him, in a way that he will never be able to be born again. For more complex things, like travel to other dimension, you need to write a complicated program on the ground around the spot where the sword had been stuck. For this, you need help of someone else to write the program faster. You can say that the black mithriyl is made with the pure dark power. It's a reflection of the darkness inside a person's mind. The secret is to use this darkness to give shape to a weapon. The result is better if you use a weapon made with your own inner darkness. That's why I'll get some of it."

"How are you going to do that?" Izzy asked.

"By passing my sword through you."

"WHAT?" the boy was in shock.

"Don't worry!" Weisheit told him, "You're not going to get hurt if I don't want to hurt you. The sword will only take a bit of the darkness in your heart. Then, the darkness will take the form of the best weapon for you."

Izzy agreed. Weisheit made one of his swords cross the boy's chest. Izzy didn't feel pain, just a cold feeling. When the sword was taken off, it brought a black fog along. Soon, the fog took the shape of a long black spear.

_A spear?_ Weisheit thought, _The same weapon Glaube uses. Could this mean something?_

"What now?" Izzy asked.

"I'm going to teach you the programs." Weisheit said, still thinking.

Meanwhile, Kari had gone walking with TK. They sat on a bench in a square. The girl had told him that she wanted to talk.

"What is worrying you, Kari?" TK asked, concerned. Kari seemed to be afraid of something.

"TK, I have a bad feeling." she said.

"About Weisheit? Don't worry, we're going to beat him."

"It's not Weisheit." The girl said in a whisper, as if she feared that someone could hear her. "TK, I think... maybe Unschuld is doing something bad."

TK frowned.

"What are you talking about, Kari?"

"When Unschuld takes my body, I kind of lose consciousness. It's as if she puts me to sleep, somehow. She does this without asking me first, almost always. But, even sleeping, I can feel her soul. These days her soul has been weird."

"Weird how?"

"It's confused. I think her mind is disturbed or something. But I can tell that she has felt sad and angry. And she also fears something."

"You can read her mind?"

"No." Kari said without facing TK, "But her feelings are too intense. I didn't feel this the first time. Other times I just felt a bit of her presence. But, lately..."

"What?"

"It's as if she is obsessed with something. The feeling is strongest when someone talks about Izzy."

"You're saying that Unschuld is obsessed with Izzy?" TK was astonished. "Why?"

"I don't know. But I think maybe she wants to do something bad to him. Perhaps... all this is connected to Izzy."

They stayed in silence. TK asked after some minutes:

"Do you think Izzy was telling Tai the truth? That he's being hunted by Unschuld and she's the enemy?"

"It's possible. I don't know. I-I'm confused." Kari was sobbing, TK hugged her, "Unschuld scares me. I let her do what she wanted because I thought it was for a good cause. I still want to believe in that, but... she scares me so much. Am I being silly for thinking this? S-she's the lady of light, she can't be bad, right?"

TK held Kari's hand with his warm right hand, trying to comfort her.

"I don't know. But, no matter what happens, I'll be by your side, don't forget it ever. Have you talked to Tai?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"I don't know. My brother has been under so much pressure, I didn't want him to worry even more about me. It may be just a feeling, right? And he's worried about Izzy too."

"Tai and Izzy are very good friends, aren't they?"

"Yes. My brother doesn't talk a lot about it, but I believe Izzy is the friend he cares the most. Sometimes I think he sees him as a little brother that needs his protection or something like that."

"I hope everything ends well."

"I hope it too, TK."

Back to Izzy's training, after some hours, Weisheit had taught him how to use the programs. Izzy had discovered too that he could divide his weapon in two pieces, what would be useful for teleportation. Tired, Weisheit said that Izzy should go back to the apartment and rest. Weisheit would stay on the roof with Persefonemon, where they spent the nights watching the city. Izzy wanted to talk about a thing to Weisheit before leaving.

"Weisheit..." He called.

"What is it?" Weisheit asked.

"Something bad is going to happen, isn't it?" Izzy was serious, "That's why you trained me in such a hurry. In one day, you taught me all the programs to use the black mithiryl."

"What are you talking about?" Weisheit forced a smile, "You learned everything in only one day. It's not my fault that you're a genius."

Izzy didn't believe in him, Weisheit realized that.

"OK! Leben told me that Unschuld is about to make a move. I just wanted to prepare you."

"You should have told me this earlier!"

"I didn't want to worry you."

"Why? Do you think I can't handle it? Do you think I'm too weak for-"

"Of course not, don't say nonsense!"

"So why?" Izzy asked. Weisheit studied the boy before answering.

"You have to deal with too many things. You may be mature and intelligent, but you're also a child. It's not that I don't trust you. It's just that I don't want to make you suffer by anticipation."

"Suffer by anticipation?"

"Yeah. A long time ago, I used to suffer by anticipation. When I decided to leave Unschuld, I was scared. I thought they would catch me, they would kill me and that I wasn't able to do anything. But I realized that it's useless to suffer because of things that haven't happened yet. This attitude only makes things worse."

"Why do you think I have this attitude?"

"Because you remind me of Shunsui more than you can imagine."

Izzy stared at him, surprised. Weisheit smiled.

"Shunsui was a very good person. He was caring and helpful, and always tried to comfort people. Even if he was suffering, he tried to not let the others notice it. He tried to protect everybody. But that wasn't good for him."

"I understand." Izzy said, remembering his experience in his inner world.

"When Unschuld ordered the scientists' deaths, I couldn't do a lot about it. I was too weak. It came a time that there was only your parents left to be 'punished.' I wanted to help, but I was so afraid of betraying Unschuld. But, by observing your parents, I realized how strong they were. Even humans without any ways to protect themselves, even humans who were more frightened than anyone... they were able to move on. They weren't going to give up on their lives so easily. Probably because they had a young son who needed them. I decided to stop being coward. I went to them and introduced myself. I offered all my help so that they could escape. It was by that time that I discovered that my fears and bad feelings could become my strength. I had discovered the black mithiryl, a substance capable of making even someone pathetic and weak like me be able to fight."

"You're not pathetic or weak!" Izzy protested.

"I'm the sixth of a group of six, Koushiro! My only power were my eyes!"

"But thanks to your eyes, you could see what the rest of them couldn't." Izzy said, seriously.

"But I wasn't able to protect your parents. I'm sorry."

"Don't be! I don't blame you at all!" Izzy spoke with intensity. "I owe a lot to you, Weisheit. You don't know how much I admire and respect you."

Weisheit was touched by Izzy's words. He turned his back to him, in order to not let the boy notice the tears in his eyes.

"Promise me a thing, Koushiro." he asked, "Promise me that, no matter what happens, you always will keep moving forward. And even if the darkness swallow you, you'll find your way back and will turn it into your strength."

"I promise." Izzy was concerned. _Why is he saying this?_

"Good. Now go inside, you must rest." Wesiheit said without facing Izzy. After the boy left, Weisheit looked to the sky. He was thinking:

_Shunsui, Catherine... I don't know what is going to happen, but I'll keep my promise. I will protect Koushiro with my life!_

A few hours later, Weisheit received a surprise visit on the roof.

"What brings you here, Sabine?" he asked.

"I want to ask you a favor." The girl spoke in a deep serious tone.

While this was happening, far from there, in a dark cave near the dark sea, Friede had found what she was looking for. Looking to a digitama, she whispered:

"She said it could be any Demon Lord. But I think I'll take the strongest, just in case. Tomorrow will be a decisive day." She gently touched the egg, "Right, Lucemon?"

**Next chapter, finally, Unschuld's move!**


	18. The wind that bent the flower

**Chapter 18: The wind that bent the flower**

On the same day Koushiro had his training, Grayman had spent the day investigating the digivice. At night, Auri and Sora went to Matt's apartment. When they arrived, Matt approached Grayman:

"So, have you discovered anything?"

"Taking in consideration this machine obeys the laws of a parallel universe, the only thing I can say is that it seems to react to the owner's feelings."

"Ehhh, we already knew that. Did Unschuld make something bad with the digivice?"

"It's not different from your digivice." Grayman picked Matt's digivice up from among his things. Matt was in shock.

** "**What the hell are you doing with my digivice?"

"I needed something to compare. What are you mad about? I dismantled, but I put it together again, didn't I?"

"You damn-" Matt was interrupted by Sora.

"Hey, Charles. Why don't you take Auri to a walk? Tokyo is a beautiful city at night."

"Right!" Grayman spoke with a sarcastic smile, "So you can make out with your boyfriend, right?"

Sora and Matt blushed hard. Auri dragged Grayman out of the apartment saying "I'm sorry for his inconvenience!" Auri and Grayman left the building. After some minutes walking, Aurélia sat on a bench.

"You don't have to be so rude, Charlie. Maybe they just wanted some privacy to talk. We have been with them all the time."

"Whatever!" Charles said. Auri smiled at him. Grayman decided to tell her a thing that was bothering him:

"We should go back to Germany."

Aurélia frowned. Charles continued:

"You heard yesterday what Izumi told about Unschuld. There's no way in hell I'm going to risk my life staying more time in this place."

"What about your interest in the Digital World?"

"There are other ways to get status and money. And I'm sure there are other ways to accomplish your father's dreams without being involved in this situation. I mean, the world already know about the monsters, it can't be that hard to prove that your father's experiment successfully opened a wormhole to that world-"

"You understand nothing." Auri said, seriously, "I didn't come here to prove that the experiment was successful. It was not what I meant when I said that I wanted to accomplish his dream."

"What did you mean, then?"

Aurélia didn't answer the question, instead, she asked:

"You really want to leave? You really don't mind in abandoning Izzy in a situation like this?"

"Why would I mind? He's just a guy I knew some days ago."

"What about Sabine? You know her for a while."

"She was just a weird girl I saw sometimes. She means nothing to me and I'm sure I mean nothing to her as well. In fact, nobody means anything to me."

"Neither me, Charlie?"

Silence.

"Don't dare lie now. There's nobody here but us."

"You-" Charles began, "...you irritate me. You're always so damn happy and positive, spying on me, joking, calling me by a silly nick name. You distract me and make me lose my calm. You make me feel things that I hate."

"But I know that you felt bad when I got hurt that time."

"I didn't want you dead because I still needed you. You said you would help me, remember?"

"And you still pretend to not remember how I wanted to help you." Aurélia said in a cold tone. "And you still keep this pathetic performance of yours. My grandfather told me about the 'gray man' thing. About what your mother did. In fact, I probably know more about her than you. You never asked about her-"

"I don't care about her."

"Enough with your stupid lies!" Aurélia was angry, "You force yourself to believe in such silly ideas as 'gray people,' 'live to myself,' 'don't care about anyone!' You just fear to confront your past and pretend to be heartless to protect yourself. I really pity you."

"You love to talk all superior to me, don't you? Who do you think you are to say that I pretend to be something I'm not? You say you want to accomplish other people's dreams. You say you want to help me giving me what I really want. You smile all the time and act as if nothing in the world could harm you. But your father was probably killed by those strange monsters and you must already have realized it. Your mother ran away from Germany and willed to die because she didn't want to live without him."

"Stop talking."

"You really want me to believe you're such a strong and perfect person that you can live happily knowing your mother didn't want to live even for you? That you can live happily knowing the responsible for her disgrace and your father's disgrace are free? Why don't you just admit it?"

" ..."

"Admit that you're here for revenge, frau Schultz! You came to Japan to find the bastards who ruined your life!"

Aurélia slapped Charles. She stood up, trembling in fury. She was staring at the ground. Grayman just stared at her:

"Sure!" she said in a breaking voice, "It's all about me, right? Take revenge against the people who destroyed my life? Who made me sad? Of course they made me sad. They made me angry! But you can't simplify everything like this. I'm not here for revenge. If you can't understand this. If you can't understand me at all after all this time..."

She looked to him. Tears were falling from her green eyes. But her expression was firm. She seemed disappointed.

"I really tried to do something for you. But it was all useless. My grandfather was right after all. I shouldn't have wasted my time with you. I couldn't open the horizons of a single person. You've sunk so deep in your world of lies that I just can't get you out of it. Not if you don't want to leave it."

"That's all so stupid." Grayman replied in low voice. Aurélia began to walk away from there.

"Do whatever you want, Charles. I'm going to stay."

"You're really going to stay, frau Schultz? Are you that idiot?"

"I really am an idiot, but not because of that." Aurélia said, without turning around.

"If it's not because of that, so why are you an idiot?"

There was silence before Aurélia answered:

"Eu sou uma idiota... porque eu me apaixonei por você, mesmo sabendo que não deveria." she said. Grayman frowned when he heard that. He stood up, but was not able to talk to her or follow her.

In Matt's apartment, Matt and Sora had discussed the situation in which they were. But they couldn't think in any plan. Sora finally said:

"We must talk to the others."

"But you know what happened when Izzy talked to Tai."

"We can't deal with this alone."

"I know, but will it be better if the others helped us? Unschuld is different of everything we ever faced."

"But we can't lose the hope, Matt!" Sora said. Matt frowned. "Hope?"

"I made you remember of TK, didn't I?" Sora asked.

"It's OK! You're right. Our only chance is to convince the others. Do you think TK...?"

"He's your brother! And also he is a very sensible person. I'm sure everything will be fine."

"Thanks, Sora." Matt smiled at her. Suddenly, Grayman entered the apartment. Without saying anything, he went to a room where he had put his things. Matt and Sora followed him and found him putting his things in his backpack.

"Are you going to somewhere?" Sora asked.

"I'm leaving." he said.

"What do you mean?" Matt wasn't believing, "You and Auri-"

"I'm the only one who's leaving. She's stupid to the point of staying and dying."

"So you're abandoning her?" Matt was angry. Grayman finished putting his things in his backpack and was leaving the apartment.

"I don't have to talk to you about it." He stated. Matt grabbed his arm.

"What kind of jerk abandons a girl to save himself?"

"This kind." Grayman pointed to himself. Then, he kicked Matt's leg to break free. After he left the apartment, Matt shouted "coward" to him. On the street, Grayman felt someone approaching him.

"Who's there?" he asked. Chainmon showed himself.

"What are you doing here, Chainmon?" Grayman asked.

"Master Weisheit had asked me to protect you, remember?"

"I don't want you around! Go away!"

"I'm going to protect you no matter what you think about it!"

"Then just don't bother me." Grayman said coldly. Chainmon followed him in silence to the airport. There, Grayman bought a ticket, but the plane would leave just in some hours. Grayman sat on a bench. Chainmon sat next to him, his cloak was calling people's attention. _Airports. I hate airports!_ Grayman was thinking. But he couldn't forget what Aurélia had told him. _Did Schultz tell her that I understood Portuguese? But I don't think he knew I did._

"I don't believe it! What is master Leben doing here?" Chainmon asked, pointing to a woman that was among some passengers who had come from Austrália. She had long brown hair and blue eyes, "But her hair is brown and there aren't lines drawn on her face."

"Leben is here?" Grayman looked to the woman Chainmon was pointing to. He went pale and stood up. _Can't be!_ The woman saw him and went to his direction.

"That woman... what is she doing here?" Charles was asking himself.

"So she's not master Leben? But she resembles her so much." Chainmon said. When the woman was in front of Charles, she smiled at him.

"There's a long time we don't see each other." she commented.

"You know her, who's she?" Chainmon asked Grayman. The woman looked at Chainmon with interest.

"You're his friend? Don't tell me you're one of the monster I've heard about." she said.

"I'm Chainmon. I'm a follower of master Weisheit."

"Weisheit?" The woman seemed bothered by something. But she forced a smile and introduced herself:

"My name is Felicity Faraday. Nice to meet you."

"I don't believe you're giving your real name to him." Grayman said. He was angry, "What the hell are you doing here, anyway, woman?"

"'Woman?'" she asked, "I didn't really expect you were going to call me 'mom' after all."

Silence.

"There was a television report about a glowing light in Tokyo. The reporters couldn't approach the light, so they were broadcasting from a distance. There were some people running behind them. Most were running from the place of the phenomenon, but there were few who were running to the place. Among these people, I saw you. So I came. It's a weird coincidence that we met at the airport like this."

"You're saying that you came after me? Why?" Grayman asked. _Is this one of her plans? It must be!_

Felicity seemed sad.

"I came because I was worried about you."

"You what?" Grayman began to laugh, "You expect me to believe you were worried about me? You..." he started to tremble, he was laughing, but there were some tears in his eyes, "...you left me in a Portuguese hotel when I was 9. You ran away and disappeared for years and now you say that you're worried about me? WHAT KIND OF IDIOT YOU THINK I AM?"

Charles began to sob. Felicity was looking to him in sorrow.

"I can explain everything to you now."

"I DON'T WANT TO HEAR! I DON'T CARE!"

"Of course you care. How could you not want to know why that happened?" Felicity grabbed Charles's arm. He tried to break free, but she didn't let.

"LET GO OF ME!"he cried, "LET GO OF..."

Felicity hugged him tightly. Grayman was suddenly paralyzed. _She's hugging me. When was the last time she hugged me? I remember... every time she hugged me like this... I felt safe... I felt nothing bad could happen..._

"I'm sorry Charlie. I thought I was doing the best for you, but it wasn't like that. I've caused you so much pain and taught you things that I shouldn't have taught. You locked you heart. Please, give me a chance to explain everything, then I can go if you want me to leave."

Meanwhile, a creature with angel and bat wings was on the top of a building in Odaiba. He was watching the city in silence. A bit far from there, Weisheit, along with Sabine and Persefonemon, had put one of his swords in the ground.

"This must be enough for now." Weisheit said, "With this barrier around the block, digimons stronger than me will not be able to enter the area. It's impossible to open a gate inside the area as well. There's no way Unschuld can kidnap Koushiro now. Thanks for the help, Sabine."

"It's OK. I was just paying for your favor." Sabine replied.

"It was a favor, you don't need to pay for it." Weisheit said nicely, "But why do you need it, anyway? If the situation gets complicated, Persefonemon could help you to run-"

"I'm not going to run no matter what happens. I asked you it, so I would be able to fight."

"Fight? But Traum is dead. What reason do you have to fight? You could go home now, right?"

"I need to fight to protect something that is precious to me." Sabine said enigmatically. "We should return to the building now."

"You're right." Weisheit agreed.

Back to Charles, the boy had listened his mother's history. They were in a restaurant in the airport. Chainmon, who was close to them, heard everything as well. Charles was staring at the floor. After a while, he decided to talk:

"So, you abandoned me because some gangsters that you had deceived were after you? You really thought that I'd be better in that institution, believing that you didn't love me?" Charles was trying to contain his anger, "I don't believe it! You left me so you could keep the money-"

"I tried to give the money to Schultz, but he refused it."

"You had a lot of money! You were just going to give him a little part so you could get rid of me!"

Felicity took a paper from her purse and gave it to her son.

"Here are the number and the password of an account in Switzerland. Almost all the money I got since I started my schemes is there. You can check it yourself and do whatever you want with the money." Felicity said. Charles couldn't believe it.

"This must be a trap, a lie!"

"No. I did this just for you. Because I love you, Charlie."

"SHUT UP! What about 'everybody is gray?' What about 'people just follow their selfish desires?' You made me believe that people were worthless and that I should live just for myself! Until now I believed that! Until now I lived as selfishly as I could! You hurt me so badly... You made me hate you so much..."

"So why did you follow the advice of someone you hated?"

Grayman didn't answer. Felicity knew the answer:

"I was bitter. I was disappointed with everything, so I formulated those simplistic conclusions you talked about. It was something a desperate and coward person wanted to believe."

"Coward?"

"When we get hurt, we try to protect ourselves. Even if we have to hide in a world made of lies, we try to protect ourselves. To not let anyone get close to us, we lock our hearts and try to live without them. We believe that, by doing this, we'll become strong enough to the point of never feel pain again. I believed in these things. And I tried to not love anyone after..."

"After what?"

"After I left the Beleuchtung Institution, the place that had been my home for many years. There I left my family too."

"You stole and deceived your own family?" Grayman asked without surprise.

"Yes, but I didn't do that because I needed. I worked in that place. I stole that money to cause damage on a scale that a certain experiment would be affected."

"Experiment?"

"An experiment to prove the Multiverse Theory."

Grayman went pale, Felicity continued:

"I loved Theoretical Physics, but I never succeed in becoming a great scientist. I was very good with numbers, however, so I was indicated to handle the financial part of the project."

"Heh, you couldn't be happier, right?" Grayman asked sarcastically. Felicity was serious.

"For a person who loved Physics, being appointed to handle the financial part of an experiment to prove the Multiverse Theory was a huge humiliation. But I could take it, if it weren't for her."

"Who?"

"A childhood friend that I had met in an orphanage, I've already talked about her to you. She made up those stories that I used to tell you, remember? Like the good king's tale. She saw me as a sister. And she saw Jo as brother."

"Jo?"

"When we lived in that orphanage, we were a group of six children, or a 'family,' as she used to say. After a while, only three of us had stayed. When she was invited to go to the institution, she only agreed after Schultz said that Jo and I could go too. Schultz would do anything to take her. She was a genius, a star. Everybody saw her that way. Especially Jo. I couldn't be surprised, he always had been in love with her, even if he was not corresponded. But he never stopped loving her. Neither when she fell in love for other man. He never was able to love anyone but her. So he never saw me in a different way."

"You mean you loved him?" Grayman asked. Felicity feel some water in her eyes.

"He was the only man I loved in my whole life. He despised me. He said that I was nothing compared to her. I didn't want to love him, but... I couldn't control it. When I heard years ago that he had disappeared and could be dead... I suffered so much. He was your father."

Grayman was in shock.

"But you said that he never had seen you..." he began. Felicity interrupted:

"He got drunk one night, when she announced she was going to marry the other man. I took him to my place to take care of him. He started kissing me... for a moment I thought... but then he called me by her name. Of course, there was no other way for him to want me. But do you know what was the most pathetic? I actually let him think that I was her. He only discovered the truth the next morning."

Charles didn't know how to react. Felicity was crying:

"When he found out... I told him what I felt for him, what I always had felt. I begged him to forget about her and stay with me. I told him that he would never be more than a brother to her and that she would never love him as much as I did. But Jo said that he would never want me that way because... he said... she was a goddess and I was a stray dog."

For the first time, Charles felt sorry for his mother. Felicity was crying without control, as if she had released a heart locked long ago.

"Can you imagine what is to love someone who thinks so little of you? That hurt you and despise you so much? She could have him, but she didn't want him. She had everything she wanted. She was a 'goddess' after all. She had been called to work in the experiment. The experiment in which I wanted to work so much, and she had been called without even asking! I was so hurt, so humiliated... I wanted to reach her somehow. Stealing money from the project was the only thing I could do. Then, I left that place forever and promised myself that I would never love anyone but me. I went to England, where I would stay for five years. Soon I discovered that I was pregnant. I seriously thought about giving you for adoption, but I couldn't do that. After you were born... I just couldn't let you go. I loved you... I didn't want to love anymore... but I was not able to not love you. As you grew up, my love grew too. And I tried to protect you from the pain, teaching you to not expect too much from people. I taught you a lot of stupid things. But I really believed you would have a better life in the institution and become a better person than me. Schultz was so noble. He accepted you without asking anything in exchange and didn't call the police to arrest me. He really wanted to protect you. And I think there was some part of him that wanted to protect me too, despite everything I had done."

Grayman was in silence. Felicity was staring at him.

"Aren't you going to say something, Charlie?"

"You're an idiot!" he stated, "You should have abandoned me when I was born... I just brought problems for you. What kind of idiot sacrifices...?"

"An idiot who loves someone. It took time, but I realized... even if love can hurt you badly. Even though the pain sometimes makes you want to die... it's still better than not feel love. A life without love is worse than death."

Against his will, Charles's eyes were wet. He saw all the things he believed collapse before his eyes. His little world made of lies was fading away. Meanwhile, Sora returned to her home and found Aurélia lying on the couch. She was wearing headphones and was singing a song that sounded sad. Sora could notice it even without understanding Portuguese.

Sei que a tua solidão me dói (I know your loneliness hurts me)

E que é difícil ser feliz (and it is hard to be happy)

Mais do que somos todos nós (more than all of us)

Você supõe o céu, sei (you suppose the sky, I know)

Que o vento que entortou a flor (the wind that bent the flower)

Passou também por nosso lar (it visited our home too)

E foi você que desviou (and it was you who turned it)

Com golpes de pincel, eu sei...(with brush strokes, I know...)

Aurélia stopped singing when she saw Sora. The Brazilian girl rubbed her eyes, but Sora could tell that she had been crying. Aurélia sat on the couch. Sora sat next to her.

"They're sleeping already. Pyiomon, Ceresmon and your mother." Auri informed.

"Grayman took his things and left." Sora said abruptly. Auri didn't seem surprised, "What happened between you two?"

"I realized that he's an idiot."

"You realized that just now?" Sora asked with a slight smile.

"I thought I could do something for him. But he is... he's so damn stupid!"

"It's horrible when the guy you like does something stupid, isn't it?" Sora asked, Auri didn't say anything, "When I was 11 and went to the Digital World for the first time, I began to learn more about Matt. Before that, he was just a guy I knew, barely a friend. I noticed that we had things in common. And that we could understand each other. At least, I always felt that he understood me, like once when he didn't try to stop me from crying when I was saying some things about my mother... later Matt challenged Tai to fight him. He was confused about many things and thought that was the best thing to do. He lamented that later and left the group because he wanted to think about some things alone. I didn't follow him. I knew what it was like wanting to be left alone. I left the group for a while before this happened. The next time I saw Matt, he helped me to get rid of some darkness in my mind. Joe helped too, but Matt..."

"It was when you realized you liked him?" Auri asked.

"I wasn't sure about my feelings. I just confessed years later. I discovered that he also had feelings for me."

"What I have with Charles is different. You and Matt are perfect for each other. You're honest and show what you feel. Charles just..."

"For a long time Matt pretended to be cold." Sora said, "It was his way to deal with his parents' separation and living far from his little brother. He was aggressive sometimes. Tai had a lot of arguments with him. Perhaps Grayman has some reason to act like that."

"He has. His mother abandoned him."

Sora was surprised by that. Auri continued:

"Don't think that I'm stupid. I always knew about his pain. But I thought I could do something for him. I wanted to do something for him because I thought that if I could extend the horizons of one single person..."

"Extend the horizons?"

"Never mind, Sora. It's just a thing related to my father. I never had the intention of... I'm not the kind of person who likes to create strong bonds."

"What?" Sora was surprised. How could that be? Auri was always so friendly and happy. But now she seemed so sad.

"It's hard to explain. The thing is that I got close to Charles... more than I wanted... and now I can't help it, but feeling this way. I never wanted to feel this for anyone."

"Why not?"

"Because-" Auri was interrupted by an earthquake. The television turned itself on. It was happening all over Japan. All the digidestineds woke up with the phenomenon. In Izzy's apartment, Izzy woke up because of the TV in the living room at the same time that Weisheit, Persefonemon and Sabine had returned from wherever they were. At the airport, Charles, Chainmon and Felicity could see a strange figure on the television. It looked like a blond man with bat wings and angel wings. He was talking from the top of a building. Every computer and cell phone was transmitting the image as well.

"Inhabitants of the human world." The figure spoke with a terrifying voice, "I'm Lucemon, your master. From now on, I shall take this world. I'll change it as I think it should be, because I'm a perfect being with infinite wisdom. If you obey me and follow me, you can live and serve me in the new world. If you don't accept it, I'll send you into oblivion. It's your decision."

In Tai's apartment, Tai, Kari, Agumon and Tailmon were watching TV. Tailmon was terrified.

"I don't believe it... it's him." she muttered.

"You know him, Tailmon?" Agumon asked.

"I just read about him in the library of Myotismon's castle. I never thought that I would see him."

"Who is he? He looks like a fallen angel or something like that, but I'm sure we can defeat him-" Tai was saying. Tailmon interrupted:

"He's different of everything we've fought until now. He's one of the most terrible digimons that ever existed. He's the strongest among the demon lords." Tailmon was whispering. Nobody had ever seen her like that, "Even Myotismon feared him. He's Lucemon Fallen Angel Mode."

"Lucemon Fallen Angel Mode?" Tai asked.

"His name was linked to an ancient prophecy." Tailmon was speaking.

"What that prophecy said?" Kari asked worried.

Tailmon took a deep breath before answering it:

"'The day that the fallen angel, Lucemon, enters the human world, a great misfortune will happen. A big city will be consumed by light, then everything will disappear.'"

**The name of the song which fragment is present in the chapter is "Moça". It's a song from the Brazilian band Los Hermanos (I don't know why the name of the band is in Spanish). Next chapter, the fight itself will begin.**


	19. Fear as they never felt before

**Chapter 19: Fear as they never felt before**

Aurélia, Ceresmon and Sora were flying on Birdramon to the place where, according to Ceresmon, a large amount of light and dark energy was being gathered.

"But I still think you should have stayed there." Sora told Auri.

"We agreed that Lucemon appearing now cannot be just a coincidence. Unschuld is behind this, I'm sure. Weisheit probably won't let Izzy get near that place and will protect him. You need all the help possible."

"I can see why Ceresmon needs to come, but you're not a digidestined, Auri. You would be safer staying behind."

"I'm not the kind of person who runs from a fight and abandons people..." Auri said, Sora could not avoid to remember of Charles, "Maybe I can't make Ceresmon evolve, but I can help with strategy. My IQ is 187, in our group just Sabine is more intelligent than me. Without Izzy, you guys will need a strategist."

"SORA!" the girls heard a yell behind them. Lilymon was flying toward them carrying Mimi and Joe, who was carrying Gomamon. They landed on a building, Lilymon seemed exhausted.

"Why did I have to carry all of you?" she asked.

"I can't fly and I'm not very fast on land." Gomamon said.

"I'm really sorry about this." Joe apologized. Mimi smiled at him and said:

"It's OK, Joe. Don't worry about it."

Joe blushed a little. Soon, Matt, who was on Metalgarurumon's back, saw the people on the building's roof and landed there.

"You guys also feel that energy?" Matt's partner asked the digimons.

"How couldn't we feel it?" Lilymon asked.

"What are you doing here, Mimi?" Matt asked the girl, Sora was curious as well.

"Joe told me the entire story. I couldn't stay in the United States doing nothing."

"But the situation is dangerous, Mimi!" Matt warned her.

"I don't care, I refuse to abandon Izzy, Joe and everybody. A long time ago I decided I wouldn't be selfish ever again." Mimi said this with sadness, "And I wouldn't be anymore a useless person who does nothing while the others fight."

"You are not useless, Mimi!" Joe said, firmly, "Please, don't despise yourself like that! You're brave, honest and know how to encourage people even when the situation is not good. You may have been immature when we first met, but now you're different and... I truly admire you."

Mimi was touched by Joe's words. "Thank you," she said. _Joe is always so kind and gentle to me. He always supports me in every situation...,_ she was thinking. Then, she looked to Aurélia.

"Are you one of Sabine's friends?"

"I came with her from Germany. My name is Aurélia Camargo da Silva."

"Aurélia Camargo? Hey, isn't there a famous character in Brazilian literature with this name?"

"I don't believe it!" Auri exclaimed happily, "You're the first person who recognizes my name! Have you read 'Senhora,' by José de Alencar?"

"No, I know a Brazilian guy who read it. He talks a lot about Brazilian books."

"Ha, I would never guess that a Japanese girl would recognize my name. And Charles always said it was a weird name..." Auri stopped talking suddenly, her smile was gone.

"Auri, are you OK?" Matt asked.

"I'm great!" she forced a smile, "What are we waiting for? Let's move!"

Aurélia, Ceresmon, Joe and Gomamon sat on Birdramon's feet. Sora sat on Metalgarurumon's backs with Matt. Mimi was carried by Lilymon. While they were going to where Lucemon was, Sora asked Matt a thing:

"We're probably going to see TK, Tai, Kari and the others there, right?"

"Yes." Matt replied without turning to face her.

"And they probably are going to see us as enemies, right?"

"Yes."

"What are we going to do if this happens, Matt?"

"Don't worry, Sora. I don't think the friendship we all have is so weak that Unschuld might be able to make them attack us. Let's have faith in our bond."

"You're right." Sora smiled. Matt was serious. He was holding his digivice tightly. _I believe in my friends and my brother. Everything is going to be fine._

Meanwhile, Weisheit was running with Persefonemon to the place where Lucemon was. Persefonemon was worried.

"Master Weisheit, do you think Sabine and Koushiro will be fine alone?" she asked, "If at least Mr. Izumi had stayed with them and Mrs. Izumi."

"The man said that he needed to get something important. There was nothing I could do."

"Do you think it's safe to go where Lucemon is?"

"Hey, I may be the sixth, but I'm strong enough to deal with a demon lord."

"I'm not talking about it! Lucemon probably is not alone there. Your plan is too risky."

"Trust me, Persefonemon. The plan is going to work." He said. Not much time later, Weisheit and Persefonemon met Matt and the others on the way. "How convenient finding you here."

On the roof of a building, Lucemon was watching the digidestineds gathering in a corner a little far from there. The humans who lived in that area had already evacuated. _Are they trying to keep a distance while thinking in a plan? How foolish_, he was thinking. The new digidestineds, along with Tai, Kari, TK and their partners, were hiding in the corner. TK and Tai were close to Kari. The girl seemed to be afraid of something.

"Joe hasn't come yet?" Ken asked.

"No. And we are unable to contact him." Cody said.

"He must have realized it already. This flow of energy is too strong to be unnoticed." Tailmon added.

"Do you guys think that my brother, Sora and Izzy are coming?" TK asked. He was worried. He couldn't stop thinking about what Kari had told him about Unschuld.

"Probably not." Tai said. He was concerned about Matt and Sora. Maybe they were being under Weisheit control or were just being fooled by him. But he was more worried about Izzy_. This situation is too odd, how would someone strong like Lucemon just show up here in the middle of our situation. I bet Weisheit has something to do with this. He took the chance to make a move to not let Unschuld and us do something. That bastard! If at least I could save Izzy..._

"We should prepare ourselves for the battle." Davis said, "Ken, let's make our digimons evolve to Imperialdramon!"

"Yes! Without Matt here, we can't use Omegamon. Imperialdramon is our best chance." Ken agreed.

The digimons evolved to Imperialdramon. Then, he said to the others:

"Stay here for now. You need to evolve to your strongest forms. I'll reach Lucemon first, then you hit him when he's confused with my attack. OK?"

"Right!" They all said. Imperialdramon flew to the sky, but, when he looked to the place where Lucemon was just before, he couldn't find the enemy. "Where is he?" he asked himself. Suddenly, a light sphere trapped him. Lucemon was floating above him. Everybody panicked.

"He's fast." Cody said.

"How could he get there so quickly?" Yolei asked.

"He used a light attack." Tai was speaking in low voice, "How can an evil digimon use a light attack?"

"IMPERIALDRAMON, GET OUT THERE!" Ken and Davis cried, but it was useless. Imperialdramon couldn't free himself. Lucemon made a dark sphere appear in one of his hands and united it with the light sphere. Imperialdramon soon was surrounded by a strange globe with symbols.

"Ultimate sacrifice!" Lucemon said. The digidestineds watched in horror Imperialdramon being destroyed.

"No..." Davis was crying, "V-mon..."

"Wormmon..." Ken was shocked as well. He fell to his knees, Yolei hugged him, trying to comfort her boyfriend.

"I'm so sorry, Ken." she said.

"I-It's going to be OK, right?" Davis asked nobody in particular, "They can reborn in the Digital World, right? It had happened to Patamon and Wormmon..."

"Dying here is different." Kari said suddenly with a cold tone, what caught TK's attention, "Their data can't gather and rearrange here. They will never live again."

"Stop joking. This is not funny, Kari!" Davis almost yelled.

"I'm serious. If the digimons who died in the human world could return to life, Wizardmon should have returned a long time ago." Kari said emotionless. TK wasn't liking that. _It's not Kari who is talking to us._

"Agumon, evolve!" Tai said, Agumon evolved to Wargreymon, the rest of the digidestineds made their digimons evolve as well. Angewomon and Holyangemon flew first. Wargreymon followed them. Aquilamon and Anquilomon stayed on the ground, in case of Lucemon attacked the digidestineds.

"Everything is going to be fine, I promise." Yolei told Ken, but she wasn't very confident. The angels attacked Lucemon, but nothing could affect him.

"Our holy powers don't work against him." Holyangemon said in shock

"Of course not." Lucemon said, "I'm the perfect being who gathers light and darkness. It's foolish to fight me. It's foolish to oppose me."

"Let's see it! Terra Force!" Wargreymon attacked Lucemon, but he stopped the attack with his hands.

"It can't be..." Wargreymon couldn't believe it. "...my Terra Force didn't hurt him at all."

Lucemon moved quickly and attacked Wargreymon without mercy:

"Lost Paradise punch!"

Wargreymon fell to the ground. Holyangemon, Angewomon, Aquilamon and Anquilomon joined forces to fight Lucemon. But they all were defeated. Fear was growing in their hearts.

"Stop fighting me. If you promise to obey me, I'll give you the peace and happiness you want." Lucemon said.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Tai asked. Lucemon smiled.

"I woke up here hours ago. Fate brought me here. I've watched you humans and I realized how empty you are."

"Empty?" Yolei asked.

"You live in a technological world that gives you more comfort than you need. You think you have everything, your arrogance doesn't allow you to see the truth. You can't find peace and happiness by yourselves. No matter what you do, you always will feel this emptiness in your hearts. The same emptiness that makes you feel this fear. There's only a way to get rid of it."

"What way?" Davis asked, Lucemon answered:

"Devote your lives to a greater and wiser being. I'll take the hard decisions for you. You'll be able to live a life without worry and pain, all you need to do is say 'We'll follow you, master Lucemon.' Obey me and I'll be merciful. My destiny is to rule this world."

"Is he serious about this?" Yolei asked herself.

_A life without worry__... a life without hard decisions... without pain..._ Ken was thinking.

"He's too strong for us. We have no hope of winning" Cody was pessimistic.

"He destroyed Imperialdramon and defeated the others so easily..." Davis was hopeless.

"I don't want to accept the defeat... I refuse it, but...Wargreymon and the others... Am I so useless that I can't save anyone?" Tai was desperate.

Suddenly, the digidestineds heard someone attacking. Lucemon had dodged a freezing wind gave by a metallic wolf. The digidestineds saw Garudamon, Metalgarurumon and Lilymon on the sky. Zudomon was coming by land, with Matt, Sora, Joe, Mimi, a strange female digimon and a girl they didn't know on his back.

"Matt!" TK exclaimed happy. Kari was with an enigmatic face, the others didn't know how to react. Lucemon just laughed.

"More insects came to face me. It seems you also need to learn a lesson."

"Our partners are not going to fight you." Matt announced. Lucemon wasn't understanding. Suddenly, he was reached on his back by a punch that made him fall to the ground. Someone had jumped to knock him down and, now, had landed next to him. _I didn't notice his presence. Who is he?_ Lucemon asked himself while he was contemplating the man with black coat. Weisheit was still with his fists clenched.

"I'm your opponent, Lucemon. I'm going to beat you quickly, so I can take care of the important things." Weisheit said. Those words made Lucemon furious.

"How dare you?" his voice was trembling in fury, "I'LL DESTROY YOU, INSOLENT!"

Lucemon ran towards Weisheit, who jumped to the roof of a building. They began a battle there.

"Everything is going to be fine now." Matt said, but Tai wasn't happy with the situation.

"Matt, Sora, do you have any idea what is going on here? Weisheit is our enemy!" Tai shouted to them.

"You're the one who doesn't understand the situation. Weisheit is not the enemy, Unschuld is!" Sora said. Soon they started a discussion, Joe and Mimi tried to stop them, Auri was just watching without understand (she didn't understand Japanese). Kari heard someone walking fast on the street, in their direction. She knew who was there._ I knew it! I knew he would come! _Kari went to intercept the person, TK was the only one to realize that and followed her. The girl was so focused in her target that she didn't notice she was being followed. On the middle of the street, Kari and TK saw Izzy.

"Koushiro. You came." Kari said.

"I knew I would find you here, Unschuld." Izzy said coldly. Kari frowned. "The Heart told me you're the body."

"So you must know that, in order to become complete again, I'll have to kill you. But you came anyway."

"I know you brought Lucemon here. I don't want anyone to get hurt. That's why..."

"You came to give yourself to me." The girl smiled. TK, hiding behind a garbage can, couldn't believe in what was happening. "I knew you would do that. You can't let people suffer, right? You remind me of him so much."

The girl began to walk towards Izzy. A white light emerged from her body and involved them, TK was watching from the outside.

"NO! STOP IT!" The blond boy yelled, what caught the attention of the digidestineds, who stopped the discussion to see what was happening.

"What's going on?" Tai asked.

"Unschuld took control of Kari... she said she's going to kill Izzy."

"Izzy is there!" Yolei asked, pointing to the barrier of light Unschuld had built.

"NO, THIS CAN'T BE TRUE!" Tai yelled, "Unschuld... she's the lady of light... she would never..."

"Tai, Kari told me she was scared. Unschuld was frightening her." TK said, "We just fought a digimon who controlled light and darkness and our 'enemy' just saved our lives."

"Weisheit is lying, he's controlling Izzy and the others..." Tai refused to believe in TK.

"Don't be idiot, Tai!" Matt said, "If Weisheit could control minds, don't you think he should be controlling yours by now? Don't you think he would have made Izzy stay in a place where Unschuld couldn't catch him? Do you think your sister, your friends... everybody is wrong? Can't you see what's happening here?"

Silence. Yolei decided to talk:

"What they're saying makes a lot of sense."

"I think Matt is saying the truth." Cody said.

"Kari must be suffering more than any of us. I can't forgive Unschuld for doing this to her." Davis said, angry.

"We were so foolish. We shouldn't have let vague concepts as light and darkness led our trial." Ken told them.

"Tai, what are you going to do?" Matt asked. Tai was facing the ground. _I let everybody down. I was so idiot. My sister is in danger... Izzy and everybody are in danger... I've taken the wrong decisions... I let things worse!_

**Flash-back:**

"Where did you go? Don't disappear like that, without saying a word! I was concerned."

"I'm sorry." she said sadly, that made Tai even more worried.

"What happened?"

"I don't know. I remember watching television, then everything went white and, when I realized, I was on a desert street alone... and crying. I looked for someone, but all I found was a piece of cloth."

Kari showed the small green tissue to her brother. Tai recognized it.

"Looks like the T-shirt Izzy was wearing this morning."

Kari fell to her knees. She was shaking.

"I'm feeling kind of weak, Tai, and sad. I'm scared. What's happening to me?" she asked, Tai hugged her.

"I don't know, but I'm here for you. I'll always be."

_Izzy...,_ Tai was thinking, _did you do something bad to Kari? If you did_..., the anger didn't let him finish the thought.

_**E**__**nd of flash-back.**_

Tai ran towards the light. _Unschuld... she used my sister... she's after Izzy... and she fooled me to be on her side!_

_**Flash-back:**_

"Tai, let me explain." Izzy tried to talk.

"It's a brainwash, isn't it? That digimon made a brainwash in Izzy." Tai said.

"My master doesn't make brainwashes. He's a good digimon." Persefonemon replied.

"You seriously expect that I believe a digimon who gathers dark energy and that is the master of the digimon who attacked my sister is good?"

"Tai, wait, please." Izzy said, "It is true. Weisheit is not the enemy."

Tai was shocked. Izzy continued.

"Unschuld is the real enemy. She and her followers have been lying to you all."

"What... are you saying?" Tai was almost speechless, "You really are..."

"Weisheit did nothing to me, Tai. In fact, he saved my life more than once."

"What the hell are you saying? What about what happened in that mountain?"

"It wasn't him. Traum was the one who harmed me. Don't you understand, Tai? You and the others have been fooled by them."

Tai stared at Izzy in total disbelief. Izzy realized that.

"Tai, look at me." Izzy asked, "Do I look brainwashed to you? Do I look someone who does not know what is saying?"

Tai stayed in silence for a while, then he said:

"No, you don't look brainwashed or anything like that."

"And I'm not, Tai." Izzy said a little happier, "I don't know for sure what's going on with Kari, but I think she's been possessed by something. Something that is after me."

"After you?" Tai asked in a cold tone.

"It's a long story, but I'll explain everything-"

"When did it happen?" Tai questioned in a colder tone, what scared Izzy.

"What?" The redhead wasn't understanding.

Tai looked at him with anger and contempt and asked:

"When did you sell your soul to Weisheit?"

Izzy was in shock. He couldn't believe he had just heard that. Persefonemon seemed disgusted because of what Tai was saying. Tai continued:

"What did he offer you in order to make you be on his side and betray us?"

Izzy went pale with the question. Persefonemon got angrier and shot a thorn next to Tai, what made him retreat a little.

"Damn you! I'm not going to listen you talk things like this anymore. You have no idea how much my master has suffered for the sake of the Digital World and the human world or through how much pain this boy has gone!"

"Pain? What pain? My sister is the one who's suffering the most and I'm sure it has something to do with Weisheit! And now... now I discover that a person who I used to see as a reliable friend... is just a disgusting traitor! I don't even know why I'm so shocked. A part of me always knew."

Izzy was just hearing everything without saying a single word until that moment. But he finally talked.

"What do you mean with 'always knew?'"

"You were a weird kid without friends when I met you. I knew the other kids rejected you and you isolated yourself. I thought it was awkward, but I understood that you were just shy, so I approached you."

"You're saying..." Izzy's voice was very low, "...you approached me and was nice to me because you pitied me?"

"Don't play the victim! I'm the one who must be upset here! All this time you just used me and everyone. You pretended to help us and care about us, but it was all for your own interests!"

"My interests?" Izzy didn't know how to react, "I never... I-I..."

"What it was, huh, Koushiro? You wanted to be around me and the others because you wanted us to protect you from the kids who didn't like you? Or maybe because you felt that, by being among us, you wouldn't be anymore such a pathetic lonely kid?"

Silence. Tai continued:

"So what did Weisheit offer you? Was it knowledge? You always liked to know new stuff, in fact, you always preferred that to people. Or was it power that that monster offered you?"

"SHUT UP, YOU STUPID KID, YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!" Persefonemon shouted furiously. Tai didn't care about her. Izzy started to walk toward Tai. When they were close enough, Tai saw the other boy was with the saddest face he had ever seen.

"So that's it, Tai?" Izzy asked, "After all this time, after all what we lived... that's what you truly think about me?"

Tai didn't answer. Izzy started to tremble. Some tears began to drop from his eyes. Tai didn't know how to react. Izzy turned his back to Tai and started to walk quickly.

_**End of flash-back**_

"I'll never forgive her!"

"Tai, stop!" Matt yelled. Persefonemon, who was hiding in the shadows, shot thorns near Tai, what made him stop.

"What are you doing?" Tai asked, angry.

"Just watch, Tai." Sora said, even though none of them could see through the light. Kari was walking towards Izzy slowly. When she was right in his front, a weird smile appeared on her face. _That's it! There's no going back now. Neither she could stop me now. It will be mine. _She prepared to grab Izzy's arm. "I won!"

But she felt something strange when she touched Izzy, a cold feeling was coming from the boy. She screamed in pain. The light expanded and went to the sky, leaving Kari's body. A little far from there, Weisheit was watching, pleased, the light going to the sky and fading away. Lucemon was lying on a building's roof. His data were vanishing. He had been defeated.

"How could this happen to me?" Lucemon wasn't accepting the defeat, "You just used your fists. How can you be so strong?"

"Strong, you say? It's the first time someone says that I'm strong. Those punches would never hurt a member of the family. But, considering your level, it must have been too much for you."

"My level? I'M THE STRONGEST AMONG THE DEMON LORDS! I'M THE EMBODIMENT OF PERFECTION IN EVERY WAY! I AM GOD!"

Weisheit punched Lucemon hard on the stomach.

"I hate this kind of arrogance." He said to Lucemon, "I bet you don't even know who brought you here and gave you power. You talk about perfection and wisdom, but you're just a pathetic and arrogant brat. I pity you."

Lucemon wasn't able to talk anymore. He was dying. Unschuld's light had vanished completely. Persefonemon, Auri, Ceresmon and the digidestineds saw Kari lying unconscious on the ground. She was grabbing a black sword.

"Weisheit had met with us on the way." Joe said, "He told us he had convinced Izzy to stay at his home, there's some sort of barrier protecting his block. Izzy didn't want to stay, but Weisheit promised he would protect everybody. Weisheit used a program he had developed on his sword and made it assume Izzy's appearance. When Kari touched the sword, the program was activated and Unschuld's code was removed from her. Removed forever. Kari is going to be fine."

"It seems Weisheit defeated Lucemon easily." Wargreymon said. He and the other digimons had gone to where their partners were. "His presence vanished completely."

"Wargreymon... you're fine." Tai said with tears in his eyes.

"Metalgarurumon, Zudomon, Lilymon and Garudamon gave their energy to the rest of us." Wargreymon said, pointing to Gabumon, Gomamon, Palmon and Pyiomon.

"Lucemon had defeated everybody, but Weisheit was able to beat him. What kind of powerful digimon is he?" Tai asked in low voice.

"I had forgotten about the level at which the six are. Master Weisheit, despite being the weakest of the family, was too strong for a demon lord." Persefonemon said. The digidestineds were surprised. TK had walked to where Kari was. The girl opened her eyes slowly. TK helped her to sit.

"I don't feel her anymore. She's gone." Kari whispered.

"Yes." TK hugged her, smiling, "Everything went well."

In a garden, a woman in a white dress was sitting on the ground. A man was near her.

"Already back? What happened, sweetheart?"

"Weisheit! When did he crack the code that I used in that girl?"

"He's a genius, he must have been analyzing it for a long time." the man said, "He really deceived you. What are you going to do now?"

"I can't go back now, I'll have to use him."

The man frowned.

"You're going to trust him? Don't you remember what happened the last time?"

"He's going to obey me this time. But be prepared, I may have to send you."

The man was surprised. _She never let me or any of the others go outside before. She's going to get Koushiro no matter what it takes._

Back to where Weisheit was, the digimon was concentrated, his eyes were searching for someone. _I know that girl is here, I must find her quickly..._ he went pale suddenly when he saw what was happening inside the barrier he had made to protect Izzy.

"It can't be! How can he be there?" Weisheit ran towards that direction, but was suddenly hit on the backs by an energy attack that made him fall.

"Where do you think you're going? I thought you were looking for me." A female voice talked behind him. Weisheit stood up and turned to face Friede. "You have to fight me first if you want to leave, little brother."

Meanwhile, Izzy and Sabine were on the roof of Izzy's building to see the battle. When they saw the light fading away, they assumed that Unschuld had been defeated. Happily, they returned to the apartment, where they found Mrs. Izumi next to the kitchen's wall, with a terrified face.

"Mom? What's wrong?"

"Koushiro, run." the woman muttered in fear. Izzy didn't move, she got desperate, "RUN!"

Izzy and Sabine saw a silver spear stabbing Mrs. Izumi's body, the woman fell. The assailant, who had been hiding behind her, removed the spear. He was a man with white clothes, orange hair, red eyes and red lines drawn on his face.

"All she had to do was tell you to approach her. Instead, she tried to save you. What a pathetic woman." The man said. His eyes met Izzy's eyes, "Just like your real mother. Let's go! Lady Unschuld is waiting for us."

**My computer was with problems, so I couldn't write the chapter earlier.**** Next chapter will be decisive for the story.**


	20. The ant's bite

**Chapter 20: The ant's bite**

Horror was all Izzy could feel. He took a few seconds to process the information of his mother lying on the kitchen's floor. Then, without thinking and with his face wet, Izzy ran toward her.

"MOOOOOOOM!" he yelled. Sabine jumped on him and brought him down. Izzy tried to break free, but she didn't let.

"SABINE, LET ME GO!"

"If you go there, he's going to catch you. Do you think that was what your mother wanted?"

Izzy began to sob. Sabine made him sit.

"What do you expect me to do then?" Izzy asked with anger and despair.

"We must think on a plan. I promise I'll do everything to protect you and your mother." Sabine spoke with determination. Izzy stared at her. Glaube was just watching, when he heard a groan. Mrs. Izumi was still alive. She was looking to Izzy.

"Koushiro..." She called in low voice, "Please, get out of here..."

"Mom?" Izzy was speechless. The attacker seemed uncomfortable.

"I hate when they don't die immediately." he said, pointing the spear to her. Izzy became more desperate.

"STAY AWAY FROM HER!" the boy cried. The other felt a warm and strong energy hitting him. All he could see was light, before being thrown against the living room's wall, breaking it and ending up on the street. Sabine and Mrs. Izumi were seeing, in surprise, how Izzy's body was emanating that large amount of energy. When the light stopped, the boy fell to the floor, unconscious.

"KOUSHIRO!" Sabine and Mrs. Izumi yelled. Izzy found himself lying on a lounge with a large window that showed a cloudy sky. A person identical to Izzy was standing next to him.

"Heart?" Izzy asked.

"Sorry to call you here, but it was an emergency." The Heart said, "Do you have any idea of what happened?"

"That guy... he stabbed my mother..."

"Yeah, I know what Glaube did..."

Izzy turned pale when he heard that name.

"Glaube? He's the... he's the..."

"Yes. But what I want to know is what you did to use my code. How were you able to use it to hit Glaube?"

"I used it?" Izzy was confused, "I don't remember."

The Heart was surprised, but then he seemed to understand something.

"Koushiro, I think your emotions forced you to use my code unconsciously. I didn't know that was possible. You hit Glaube, but your body suffered from the tension generated by the energy produced by the code. I don't think Glaube will be defeated just because of that attack, in addition, your body won't resist if you use my code again that way."

"But I must do something... he's going to kill them..."

The Heart stared at Izzy for a while, then he said:

"If you really want to protect them, there's a thing I can do to help you."

When Glaube rose again, he looked at the hole in the wall in fury. He grabbed his spear firmly and jumped back there. Near the door of the apartment, Sabine had dragged Mrs. Izumi to where she and the unconscious Izzy were. Izzy was lying right in front of her. Glaube looked at her with anger, Sabine looked at him coldly.

"You worthless humans." Glaube said, preparing to attack Sabine with the spear, "WHY DON'T YOU JUST VANISH!"

Glaube ran toward Sabine, pointing the spear to her. Sabine put her hands on the floor, _I'll have to use it now,_ she was thinking. None of them saw a black fog appearing in Izzy's right hand.

"DIE!" Glaube shouted, but his spear was stopped before reaching Sabine's chest. Izzy had awakened, put himself on his knees and defended the attack with his own black mithiryl spear. The clash of the weapons made all the dishes and furniture in the kitchen break. Sabine and Mrs. Izumi, however, were safe. Izzy had suffered the shock of the attack, which hurt him even with his spear absorbing much of the impact. Izzy, despite the pain, didn't move.

_How could he bear the impact? And this spear... it seems to be made of the same material as Weisheit's swords. How dared he copy my weapon like this?_ Glaube wondered.

Holding the spear tightly, Izzy whispered to himself "Now, Heart." The Heart, in their inner world, was concentrated. _Koushiro can't control my power, that was just a thing at the moment. I need to control my own power, then. But if I borrowed his body, he would end up dead. That spear, however, seems to be able to prevent that. And he was trained by Weisheit to use that spear. So, the only way to fight is by joining forces. This should be enough to stop Glaube for a while._

The Heart positioned his hands as if he was holding something invisible, Izzy was doing the same, but holding the spear. They closed their eyes. The energy was flowing from Izzy's body to the spear. Glaube was watching with curiosity. _What is he trying to do now? I should retreat a little._ Glaube jumped back and held his spear in front of his body in order to defend himself against a possible physical attack. _This time I will not be caught in surprise._

Izzy opened his eyes at the same time the Heart opened his, in the inner world. The boy pointed the spear to Glaube.

"No matter how strong the attack is, it will never go through my defense. No physical attack can go through my defense." the digimon said.

"Good, it's not going to be a physical attack. ALBTRAUM REICH!" Izzy yelled. Glaube didn't have time to think, he collapsed when a wave of fog left Izzy's spear and hit him. Izzy fell to the ground and gasped.

"Wasn't that an attack of Mr. Dream?" Sabine asked.

"Yes... Heart helped me... we put Glaube in a nightmare... I have something to ask you." Izzy said, standing up with difficulty. "My mother needs a doctor, Joe's father is one, he lives in apartment 103... please take her there."

"What about you?"

"If he wakes up, he'll come after me. I need to leave the apartment and get away from you."

"I can't let you do that! I'll fight with you."

"Sabine, please... you're the only chance my mother has to survive... also... I would never forgive me if that bastard did something to you."

Sabine looked at him speechless.

Glaube was falling in darkness. He hit a road, it was night. He saw before him a figure holding a spear and wearing a white cloak that covered his entire body. He knew he was seeing himself.

_This night... it's the night I tried to capture the Heart_, he thought. He could even hear what he was thinking that night:

_She told me to capture the boy and kill the woman. Why just the woman? Why did she decide no one else should die besides her? And she ordered me to not touch the man. Why? All humans are heretics who deserve death! She used to think like that too, why did she change her mind? What's so special about this woman to be the only one to die? And why she didn't let me kill the man? I don't understand Lady Unschuld. What is she thinking? Why doesn't she tell me? Doesn't she understand how important she is to me?_

When the car was close enough, the Glaube who was thinking hit the car with a shock wave produced by a movement of his spear. The car was thrown against the trees on the roadside. Glaube walked toward the car and saw that man trying to help the woman.

_This despicable being... why not kill him? Why does she want him alive? He's not worthy! No human is worthy, especially this man! What does this man mean to her? Why would a worthless human mean something to her? This man... THIS MAN..._

Glaube could not stop his hatred. He stabbed the man's chest with the spear. It felt good. _Die... yes... bleed to death! DIE!_

Glaube realized the woman was staring at him with eyes full of horror. There was something about her that bothered Glaube, but he didn't know what it was. The woman suddenly spoke with a trembling voice:

"Please, do not hurt my son. Do what you want to me, but don't hurt my son."

Glaube didn't care about her words. _What a pathetic woman! She should worry more about herself._

He stabbed the woman's chest with the spear. But that didn't make him feel good. He felt something was wrong, something he couldn't understand. _Why am I feeling this? It's just a human woman. She's nothing for me._

Then, Glaube glanced at the red-haired baby crying in the backseat of the car. _This noisy kid is the Heart? The Heart of the Digital World she wants so much? Why does she need him? She's strong enough, she doesn't need anything. I should just kill this damn child! But she ordered me to take the child to her. She said that he was important. Why? WHY?_

When he was going to take the child, he was hit by an attack from behind, which caused him to fall to the ground. The Glaube who had been reached and the one who had gotten there a while ago turned their heads to see Weisheit behind them. He had hit a spot on Glaube's back with a black sword. Glaube could feel his body shaking... there was a dangerous instability. _Why is this crybaby here? What does he think he's doing? What he did to my body? Damn Weisheit!_

"You... traitor!" Glaube shouted.

Weisheit took the child gently from the car.

"What do you think you're doing?" Glaube asked.

Weisheit answered:

"Maybe I cannot stop you from killing the 'heretics.' Maybe I cannot stop your plans to our world and human world. But I will do everything I can, starting by saving this child.

"You fool. It's useless! You alone can do nothing against the rest of us! We will control our world and destroy this heretic world. We will exterminate all humans and you can't do anything about it."

Weisheit gave him a sad, but determinate, look and said "I'll try." Before leaving that place with the child in his arms, he looked to the other again and said "I'll make you a promise: the next time we meet, I'll kill you for sure."

Glaube was feeling a terrible pain. His body was glowing strangely. Suddenly, he saw a white light above him. When he realized, he was lying on Unschuld's room's floor. The cylinder of tissue was near him. The other Glaube was there too.

"Why did you kill him, Glaube?" Unschuld asked.

"He was a heretical human."

"I told you I didn't want the humans to die anymore. Just that woman should die."

"You're too innocent and confused. Soon you'll go back to your senses and realize that-"

"Why did you kill Shunsui?" Unschuld's voice sounded sad. Glaube noticed that.

"Why do you care? HE WAS JUST A WORTHLESS HUMAN!"

The pain increased. _Damn it, am I going to die?_ Glaube was concerned.

"I'll give you a new body, Glaube."

"Can't you just restore my body?"

"No. The body I'll give you will be important for your next mission."

"I must go look for Wesiheit. He must die, that traitor..."

"Stop talking. Your mission has nothing to do with Weisheit."

Glaube lost consciousness. Everything went black. When the two Glaubes woke up, they were in a room full of black weapons. "These weapons... they look like Weisheit's swords. Wait! I'm myself again. I'm awake! Why am I here? Weisheit is here too. This is my chance!"

Suddenly, a light gate appeared and Traum walked into the room.

"Glaube! Where have you been all these years?" Traum asked.

"What are you doing here?"

"Unschuld sent me here. The Heart appeared in this place."

"What?" Glaube could not believe.

"I'll look for him. You must deceive the digidestineds while I do it."

"What do you mean? Capturing the Heart was my mission!"

"Sorry, Glaube. But you failed. Now it's my mission."

Glaube was furious. Traum seemed scared.

"Hey, take it easy. You still can beat Weisheit, right? But remember, you must pretend to be on the digidestineds' side."

_I want to kill them all. Why can't I? I've been locked up for so many years. Why did I wake up now?_

"Oh, there's a thing Unschuld told me to tell you," Traum suddenly remembered. "She said, 'you have an important mission. Everything has a meaning. Don't lose you faith in me.'"

Suddenly, Glaube woke up and stood up.

"What kind of pathetic attack was that? An attack from the fourth would never defeat me. I'M THE THIRD!"

Glaube ran toward Izzy, who ran to him and hit him with a light attack channeled by the spear. The redhead jumped to the outside (he was on the first floor), being followed by Glaube. _Heart, make me run the fastest I can!_ He called the Heart in his thoughts. "This would put too much tension in your legs..." The Heart protested.

"JUST DO IT!" Izzy yelled. A huge flow of energy went to the boy's legs, he ran faster than he had ever run before. Faster than any human could run. Izzy felt his legs were burning, he began to cry in pain, but continued running. _Come after me, Glaube. Get away from them, bastard!_

Glaube didn't run after Izzy. He just stayed in the middle of the street. Sabine had taken Mrs. Izumi to the apartment 103. Mrs. Kido opened the door and let them enter. Glaube held his spear above his head.

"I think this time I should get a little more serious."

The ground began to shake. The air was moving fast around him. Glaube threw his spear against the ground. A massive shock wave knocked down all the buildings nearby. An earthquake was felt in the entire Tokyo. The place where Izzy's block had been seconds before had been replaced by a deep hole in the ground.

Where Weisheit and the others were, the earthquake was felt as well. That caught Friede's attention.

"What was that just now?"

"What?" Weisheit was surprised, "It means that you don't know that Glaube is inside the barrier with Koushiro?"

"GLAUBE IS ISNSIDE THE BARRIER WITH THE REDHEAD BRAT?" Friede wasn't believing. Everybody went nervous when they heard that.

"That's not possible." Matt said, "Weisheit told us that his barrier wouldn't let anyone stronger than him pass or open a gate inside it. How can Glaube be there?"

"If that earthquake was caused by him..." Sora was nervous, "Then... is Izzy...?"

Tai couldn't stand that anymore:

"I'm going after him!" he said.

"What?" Joe freaked out, "This is madness! Glaube is there! You guys were beaten up by Lucemon, how are you supposed to face Glaube?"

Tai clenched his fists.

"Right now, Weisheit is fighting that girl. Metalgarurumon gave his energy to the others and Imperialdramon died. Wargreymon is the strongest digimon we have. I'm the one who must go after Izzy."

"Tai..." Kari called him, she was still holding Weisheit's sword.

"I'm not suicidal." Tai spoke again, "And I'm not stupid too. I know we can't defeat Glaube. I have no intention on fighting him."

"What do you mean?" TK asked.

"Glaube doesn't know we have discovered the truth. I plan to go looking for Izzy with Wargreymon. If we meet Glaube, we can say that we're there to help him."

"But what if he doesn't believe? What if he finds out?" Joe was asking.

"Do you have another plan to help Izzy?" Tai asked seriously. Joe didn't answer.

"Let's be a little optimistic here, people!" Mimi said, "It's better than sitting here and doing nothing!"

"You're right, Mimi." Matt agreed. He turned to Tai, "We're counting on you."

"You can do this." Kari said.

"Surely you're going to rescue Izzy!" Sora told him.

"Guys..." Tai was touched by those words. "Let's go, Wargreymon!"

Tai climbed on Wargreymon's back, who flew to the sky. Friede noticed that.

"You're not going to escape!" Friede said. She gathered some energy in her hands, making a ball. The lights of a nearby building turned off. Auri realized that. Friede threw the ball against Wargreymon, but Weisheit jumped and was hit by the ball in his place. Wesheit fell to the ground violently. Tai had time to see the other giving him an encouraging smile. _Thanks, this will not be for nothing!_ Tai thought. Soon, he and Wargreymon had disappeared from Friede's sight.

"How pitiful. I don't believe you jumped in front of him." Friede told Weisheit.

"I don't blame you. What I did for him was something beyond your understanding." Weishet replied.

"You talk too much for someone so weak. Glaube will probably be mad, but I think I'll kill you here." Friede said. Someone approached her from behind. She turned and saw a young girl looking to her with furious green eyes.

"You have power over electricity, don't you? I saw you taking that building's electricity." Aurélia told her.

"Auri, get out of there, it's dangerous!" Sora warned, Auri didn't move. Friede stared at her.

"If you want to know, I have power over all types of energy, excluding Lady Unschuld's, of course. I can't control the digivices because of that, but I was able to turn a digitama into a Demon Lord in one day. My power is quite amazing."

Aurélia didn't seem surprised or frightened. She just kept staring at Friede, angry. Something about the girl's eyes was bothering Friede.

"In 1989, you attacked some scientists at Beleuchtung Institution, right? People involved in an experiment to prove the M Theory."

"Oh, those guys? Yes. I was the responsible for the most of the 'accidents.' Friede seemed to have fun by remembering that, "When Lady Unschuld discovered that people were trying to enter the Digital World, she sent us there to eliminate them."

The digidestineds were in shock.

"Eliminate?" Ken asked, "Why?"

"Why? It was necessary. What would have happened if they had entered the Digital World? There would be chaos, maybe even war. We had to eliminate them to make people afraid of trying to open a gate to the Digital World again. Those scientists were sacrifices for peace."

"Peace?" Aurélia was trembling in fury, "You have the audacity to give such a ridiculous excuse? Those scientists were not bad people! You murdered them because of your fear of the unknown!"

Silence. Friede laughed:

"'Fear of the unknown?' Neither I or Lady Unschld or any member of the family fears anything! We did that for justice, to preserve peace!"

"You're an ignorant." Aurélia said. "Do you know the consequences of the day when they tried to prove the M Theory?"

"Lady Unschuld told us they failed. She was able to protect the Digital World."

"Protect? So she didn't tell you that she was born that day?"

Friede went pale. "What are you talking about?" she asked.

"There was an incident that day. The Digital World's core was dragged, along with other things, to a new dimension, creating a new universe. This universe is what you call 'Lady Unschuld.' You were created by her, right?" Auri was asking furiously, "How does it feel to know that her existence is the result of an accident and your existence, as consequence, has no meaning?"

Aurélia stopped talking. Friede had made an energy arrow cross her chest. The girl fell.

"You insolent insignificant human." Friede said coldly, "How dare you speak such blasphemy?"

"AURI!" Sora and Matt tried to rescue her, but Friede made an electricity web surround the place where she, Weisheit and Aurélia were. Even shocked at what happened to Auri, Weisheit was able to teleport his sword to where he was_. Now I just have to find Friede's core_, he thought. Friede was looking to Auri, who kept the angry look.

"The first human I killed was the responsible for that experiment, Karl Schultz. He said some hilarious things before dying. It was something about extending the horizons of humanity by making them know about the other worlds, nonsense. But he seriously believed he was doing something noble. When he was dying on the ground after his 'electrical accident,' he called for someone. I think the name of the person was Capitu. I remember, there was a photo on his desk of a woman... she looked a lot like you, except the eyes. Your eyes are identical to his. For the stupid things you say and the odd resemblance, I can assume that you're his daughter."

Auri clenched her fists, Friede began to gather some electricity in her hands again.

"I don't know why you're here. Perhaps it's fate. You're destined to die by my hands, like your father."

Friede was about to kill Auri when she saw, on the ground, the shadow of someone behind her. She turned quickly and hit Weisheit on the chest with the electricity. Weisheit was thrown against the electrical web, falling to the ground after that, powerless. He let the sword fall near where Friede had been. Friede walked toward Weisheit.

"Your eyes are very good. You saw my core and tried to hit it, right?" she asked.

"Right in the middle of your chest..." Weisheit spoke loud enough to make Aurélia hear before losing consciousness. Friede looked to Wesiheit lying on the ground with joy.

"I think I should stop playing with you. Let me see... the energy of this town must be enough."

Weisheit went pale. The lights of all the buildings and residences of Tokyo went out. Electricity was being gathered in Friede's body.

"Göttlich Strahl!" Friede said, hitting Weisheit with the energy. The light was seen in the entire city.

A little far from there, Charles was being carried by Chainmon, who moved from building to building hanging in his chains, to the place where he could feel a dangerous presence.

"Glad that your mother gave you her hotel's address before we left. So you can end your conversation later. Those lights we saw... I'm sure the first one had to do with Unschuld. The last one seemed electric... I guess it's Friede. Charles, are you listening?"

Charles had been quiet all the time. _Is she there? Please, be fine, Aurélia._

Mr. Izumi had returned from his office, where he had left a thing that was, now, under his coat. A thing to protect his family. He fell to his knees when he saw the hole that was once his block. Desperate, he searched for a way down there. _Yoshie... Koushiro... I beg you, be alive._

Meanwhile, Tai and Wargreymon had crossed Weishet's barrier without problem, but they were shocked when they saw the hole in the ground.

"Oh my..." Tai was pale. Wargreymon went down, landing on what seemed to have been a building once.

"I think I can feel Izzy's scent." Wargreymon told Tai.

"Is he alive?" Tai asked worried.

"I don't know, but he's somewhere under this." Wargreymon pointed to the destroyed building. "Let's look for him."

Tai agreed, trying his best to have some hope in finding Izzy alive.

Izzy was under the structure, but was without any scar. Some kind of condensed light barrier was protecting him. However, he was in deep pain.

"I'm sorry for this, Koushiro" Izzy could hear the Heart's voice, "This barrier is putting more pressure in you than your body can take, but it was the only way to protect you from the impact. Since you lost the spear, your body is getting all the damage."

"My mother... Sabine... are they...?"

"I don't know, Koushiro. But I don't think there's someone alive in this block besides you." The Heart said.

Izzy began to cry.

"Don't say that... please, don't say that..."

"I'm not saying anything that you haven't figured out already. Lying to yourself is not going to help."

"No... they can't be dead... it's not fair..."

"Hey, don't get desperate, if you do this, it's going to start raining here and I don't want that! Even if they have died... don't forget that Leben is on Weisheit's side. She can do miracles you can't even imagine. So stop crying and try to worry about yourself."

"You want me... to invoke the spear?"

"You can't hold a spear in your condition. We must wait until someone rescues us. I hope it happens quickly. This barrier is slowly destroying your body, but if I remove it, you'll be crushed. We can only have hope."

In that dark place, Izzy suddenly saw a ray of light. "Good!" the Heart said, "Someone is there. When he gets closer, I'll make the barrier disappear."

"I see him, I'll remove the things above him, then I'll take him out."

"OK, Wargreymon, be careful." Tai said. He realized that there seemed to be a light barrier around Izzy. _It looks like Kari's light... what could this mean?_ he was asking himself. Soon, Wargreymon went back to where Tai was, holding a trembling Izzy in his arms. He gently laid Izzy on the ground, so Tai could examine him.

"Hey, Izzy? Are you all right? Are you hurt? Please, say something." Tai was worried. Izzy just looked at Tai.

"Why are you here?" he asked without joy.

"I'm here to rescue you. I know the truth about Unschuld and that Weisheit is not the enemy. I'm so sorry, Izzy. I'm so sorry for not believing in you."

"Tai." Tai's partner called, "We should hurry. Glaube is going to find us."

"Yes. We're leaving now, Izzy." Tai made the boy sit, but Izzy shouted:

"LET GO OF ME!"

Tai was surprised. Izzy was looking at him with hatred.

"What kind of trick is this? Does Unschuld think I'm stupid?"

"I'm not working for her, I swear!"

"LIAR!" Izzy screamed. Then, he gasped and almost collapsed. Tai tried to help him, but Izzy shouted "Don't touch me!"

"Izzy, believe me, please." Tai said, almost in tears, "I want to help you. If you don't let me, you'll die."

"I begged you to believe me." Izzy was speaking in low voice, "I risked my safety by telling you the truth about Unschuld, but you... you called me traitor."

"I'm so sorry. I was confused and worried about my sister, I-I didn't mean to-"

"HOW DO YOU THINK I WAS? You said you always... you always knew I wasn't your friend. You said that I had sold my soul, that I had betrayed my friends in Exchange-"

"Please, Izzy. I didn't mean those things."

"Wasn't I a pathetic lonely child that you pitied? A selfish person who only used you and the others? And now... now you want me to believe..."

Tai was crying. Izzy wasn't even looking at him anymore. The stress and the pain he had passed through were too great.

"I gave you everything." The redhead said, "I did everything for you and the others. I never asked anything in exchange, I just felt that I should do that. And I wanted to help you, really, I didn't want to use you to protect me or anything. I never complained about anything, even when you treated me badly."

"You have the right to hate me." Tai said, "And you're free to hate me from now on. I'll let you alone if you want it. But... now, I'm going to take you out of here."

Tai grabbed Izzy by his arms, Izzy tried to fight, but Tai was stronger.

"LET ME GO!"

"No! I will not let you go!" Tai stated, "I don't give a damn if you're not going to forgive me. I didn't come here for that. I came to save you. And I'm not going to let you die, no matter what you think about it!"

Izzy stared at Tai in disbelief. Tai smiled at him.

"You're my best friend, Izzy. I know I haven't been the friend you deserved. I know I did a lot of stupid things... and that I hurt you badly. I may not get a chance to compensate for that. But it doesn't matter. If you live, it doesn't matter at all what you think about me."

"Tai!" Wargreymon called him, afraid, "Look behind you."

Tai turned and saw someone walking toward them.

"Damn it! Is it Glaube coming?" Tai asked.

"I don't know, he's still very far from us." Wargreymon replied.

"Izzy, hide behind something. We'll take care of him." Tai said quickly, not giving Izzy a chance to say anything. Izzy hid behind a broken wall, but he could see Tai and Wargreymon moving forward. Soon, the other met them. It was Glaube.

"What are you doing here?" Glaube asked.

"We have come to help you! That damn Weisheit is behind this, right? We can't let him get Izzy." Tai lied.

"You're saying that you're here to help me find him?" Glaube asked.

"Yes! Of course!" Tai lied more, "We need to protect him. In fact, Wargreymon just felt his scent."

"That's right!" Wargreymon lied too.

"Really?" Glaube asked seriously, "Can you point to where he is?"

"Sure!" Wargreymon pointed to his left. Glaube made a quick movement with the spear.

"What is it? Aren't you going ther-" Wargreymon was saying, but he suddenly stopped. Glaube had sliced him into two pieces, his data were fading away.

"WARGREYMON!" Tai screamed in despair. _How? When?_ He couldn't understand. Glaube made another movement with the spear, before walking to where Izzy was.

"WAIT! NO!" Tai turned and tried to stop Glaube, but he soon felt his flesh burning. A large cut was made on his chest, blood spurted and he fell to the ground.

"TAAAAIIIII!" Izzy stood up and ran to Glaube in fury, "I'LL KILL YOU!"

"Koushiro, stop, your body can't stand this!" the Heart tried to warn Izzy, but it was too late. Izzy felt his bones breaking and his muscles tearing. He screamed in pain before hitting the ground. A pain greater than anything he had ever felt before in life.

"You are so stupid." Glaube said, walking toward Izzy again. From the ground, Tai yelled:

"Don't touch my friend!"

Glaube turned to Tai.

"Some ants are slow to die." Glaube said, "You could have bled to death, but if you're so impatient, I can kill you now."

"No!" Izzy was in panic. He couldn't stand that. He had lost his mother and Sabine, he couldn't lose Tai too. His friend couldn't be killed right in front of his eyes.

"PLEASE STOP!" Izzy shouted. Glaube turned to him, "I don't want anyone else to die, please, don't kill him."

Izzy was sobbing. Glaube was staring at him.

"I beg you..." Izzy was saying, "Do what you want to me, but don't hurt anyone else."

Glaube went pale. Then, he walked toward Izzy. When he was right in front of the boy, he whispered:

"You reminded me of something I wanted to forget." Glaube was saying. He pointed his spear to Izzy, "You are just as pathetic as that woman. I just wanted to kill you, but Lady Unschuld never let me... you'll never know how much I despise and hate you. You'll never understand what kind of humiliation I went through because of you. If you die... if I kill you now... all my misery would end."

Glaube's arm was shaking with excitement. He wanted to kill Izzy more than anything in the world. He needed that. He prepared to stab the boy with the spear.

"Die." He said. But when he was almost hitting Izzy, his body suddenly stopped moving.

"What is this?" Glaube couldn't believe. His body wasn't obeying him anymore.

**Next chapter, the conclusion of this arc. Thank you May Kat and Kaito Lune for the kind reviews. I took the label from Full Metal Alchemist (the best manga I ever read *_*).**


	21. Batendo na porta do Céu

There are a lot of things written in Portuguese with translation. I hope you don't mind.

**Chapter 21: Batendo na porta do Céu**

Aurélia was in a dark tunnel with a light in the distance. She was no longer feeling pain, just relieve and peace.

"Um túnel com uma luz no final? Isso quer dizer que estou morrendo? (a tunnel with a light at the end. Does it mean I'm dying?)... Eu sei que isso é só uma coisa causada pela falta de oxigênio no meu cérebro... eu nem acredito em pós-vida. (I know this is only a thing caused by the lack of oxygen in my brain... I don't even believe in afterlife)."

Aurélia tried to find something funny about the situation, but she just couldn't. No matter what she had done until that moment, she was going to die. Every effort was completely useless. The worse was that she had been brought down by the one who brought disgrace to her family. Would Friede ever understand what she did to her? What she did to the most important people of her life?

"Eu só queria que ela pagasse (I just wanted that she paid). E se isso que estou vendo não for na minha mente? Será que poderia mesmo ser um caminho para o Céu? (what if this that I'm seeing is not in my mind? Could this really be a path to Heaven?). Será que os meus pais estão lá? Poderia a mamãe estar feliz? Estarão esperando por mim? (Are my parents there? Could mom be happy? Are they waiting for me?)."

Aurélia began to walk toward the light.

"Eu perdi tudo. Fracassei em tudo que me propus a fazer. Eu vou morrer e meu corpo vai virar cinzas. O triste é que eu não tenho ninguém para lembrar de mim. A minha família brasileira, o meu avô alemão, os meus amigos... eu nunca deixei ninguém se aproximar de mim de verdade ou me conhecer (I lost everything. I have failed in all that I wanted to do. I'm going to die and my body will turn to ash. The sad is that I don't have anyone to remember of me. My Brazilian family, my German grandfather, my friends... I never let anyone truly approaches me or knows me)."

Aurélia kept walking.

"Se ninguém se aproximasse, eu não me importaria de perder mais ninguém. Eu não me importaria se mais alguém desistisse da vida e se deixasse abater. Eu não podia suportar isso de novo. Eu nunca consegui perdoá-la.(if nobody approached me, I wouldn't care about losing someone again. I wouldn't care if someone gave up on life and let himself be down. I couldn't bear that again. I never could forgive her)."

Auri's mother, Capitu, had loved Karl so much, she thought her disease was a way of the universe tell her it was her time. She could go. Right after Auri had discovered that she was sick, and worse, that she knew about that and refused treatment, Capitu told her reasons to the girl. When Karl's experiment failed, everybody turned their back to him and he became depressed. She tried to cheer him up, she told him that he was brilliant and soon would make some important discovery and everybody would recognize him. But he told her that the experiment wasn't for his glory. He wanted to prove the existence of parallel universes to show people how insignificant they were. That way, they would realize it's foolish to make wars and cause unhappiness to each other. "All the problems of the world are caused by pride, fear of the unknown and ignorance," he used to say. Karl also told her that if he were able to expand the horizons of at least one person and make this person happy, his dream would be accomplished in part. When he had that accident in the laboratory and died, however, Capitu was devastated. She began to think it didn't matter how much a person loved, worked or dreamed, everything would be taken away from this person in some moment. The fate of everything was to be forgotten. Capitu began to believe that life wasn't worthy and that all that was solid dissolved in air. Auri called Capitu coward and promised she would never be like her and that she would prove that she was wrong.

Auri stopped walking. Was that really the end? Was she going to give up on everything just like her mother did? She wanted so badly to be different and prove that Capitu was wrong. She lamented her mother had died before she could prove that. When Albert Schultz came to visit her and asked her to go to German, Auri saw there an oportunity. If she could understand more about her father and his dreams, if she could accomplish them... her Brazilian family didn't want her to go, though. They said that she was running away from her problems. Aurélia felt she had to go. Besides her determination about her father, she didn't want to be close to her family. She was afraid something could happen to them and she would be thrown in misery again. She promised herself she would never make strong bonds to people again, to not suffer. She would be always nice and friendly, so nobody would worry about her or try to reach her true self. It worked well, until she met him.

"Ele disse que odiava o que eu o fazia sentir. Ele não fazia ideia do quanto eu odiava aquilo também. No começo era só uma diversão provocá-lo, eu o achava interessante. Eu não queria... eu não tinha planejado... quando o meu avô me contou a história dele, eu pensei que pudesse ajudar. Se eu expandisse os horizontes do Charles e o fizesse parar de mentir para si mesmo e ser feliz, o sonho do meu pai se realizaria em parte. Se eu pudesse mudar o Charles... eu poderia mudar o mundo. Por que eu tive que desenvolver esses sentimentos por ele? Nada disso importa mais. Eu não consegui ajudá-lo em nada. Minhas ações foram inteiramente inúteis. Mas, apesar de tudo... eu não queria morrer sem ter feito nada... se eu não puder realizar os sonhos deles... se eu não puder mudar o mundo... pelo menos... é isso! Ainda há algo que eu posso fazer. (He said he hated what I made him feel. He had no idea how much I hated that too. At the beginning it was just funny to mess with him, I found him interesting. I didn't want... I had not planned... when my grandfather told me his history, I thought I could help. If I could expand Charles's horizons and made him stop lying to himself and be happy, my father's dream would be accomplished in part. If I could change Charles... I could change the world. Why have I had to have these feelings for him? Nothing of this matters anymore. I couldn't help him in anything. My actions were entirely useless. But, despite everything... I didn't want to die without having done anything... if I can't turn their dreams true... if I can't change the world... at least... that's it! There's still a thing I can do)."

Weisheit was lying on the ground. Small pieces of data were vanishing from his body. He was going to die. Persefonemon was desperate. She tried to run to where her master was and would have clashed the electrical web if Kari hadn't stopped her.

"LET ME GO! MASTER WEISHEIT IS GOING TO DIE!" Persefonemon cried. Kari kept holding her.

"That digimon is too strong for any of us. You'll just get killed."

"Who you think you are to tell me what to do? You're the one who almost killed Chainmon that time!" Persefonemon was sobbing. Kari was serious.

"I'm truly sorry for that. But Weisheit showed up to rescue you guys that time. If you just waste your life to try to save him now, it would be disrespectful to him."

Persefonemon stared at Kari. She knew the girl was right, but she just couldn't leave her master that way.

"What should I do, then?" she asked.

"Every time we thought we were doomed, a miracle happened. I'm sure everything will be fine at the end." Kari told her. Friede laughed when she heard that.

"You really don't get it, do you?" Friede asked, "The digidestineds are just a thing Lady Unschuld made up to make digimons and humans have a good relationship. The digimons were afraid after the incident. A lot of them thought that was an attempt of attack and that they should attack first. Those fools! But Lady Unschuld wanted to protect the humans for some reason since the day Weisheit helped the heart's keeper to escape in safety."

"Heart's keeper?" Ken asked. Friede continued:

"I have no idea what was the cause of her sudden change of mind, but orders were orders. So I managed to make some greedy digimons evolve and create chaos in the Digital World. Then, Lady Unschuld chose some human children to fight them. She managed to take the ones with the best virtues. She even built the digivices to turn the power of their hearts into battle power. The digimons would fear these enemies and, once the human digidestineds defeated them, they would be so grateful that they would never attack the human world. At the same time, if other humans heard about the Digital World and had the same sort of fear, wanting to attack the digimons, the digidestineds would avoid that too. If the enemies we created caused chaos in human world and their savers were humans with digimons, they would be grateful and wouldn't attack the Digital World."

"What are you saying?" TK asked, in shock, "Our battles... the attacks in human world and the Digital World... the deaths... all of that was planned by you?"

"Yes." Friede smiled, "It all worked very well with every group of digidestineds. Lady Unschuld had total control of the situation all the time. You never found that weird? A bunch of kids winning strong enemies without any death in the group? The evolutions happening in the most crucial times? All this time you were just doing as Lady Unschuld had planned."

"You gave Myotismon, the Dark Masters and other dangerous digimons power...?" Mimi was saying, "Why? Why this? All that misery they created... all the deaths... how could you do that? Why?"

"Haven't I told you already? Everything was for peace. If today digimons and humans can get well along, it is thanks to that. If it is necessary, we'll do it again. Those who died and suffered in the process were just sacrifices for a greater objective."

"YOU DON'T HAVE THE RIGHT TO PLAY WITH LIVES LIKE THAT!" Angewomon yelled, she had remembered about Wizardmon. Did he get killed for nothing as well? Friede laughed more.

"Why this reaction? Oh, you thought all this time that everything was your merit and you were the true heroes who protected both worlds, right? Well, you are, the fact that you were manipulated is just a mere detail. But don't be ashamed, the thing is that children are too easy to manipulate. You asked me who I thought I was. I'm the fifth strongest digimon that exists. You can fight all you want. You can join forces, hope for a miracle or whatever. You'll never be strong enough to beat me. You're just worthless insects... there's nothing you can-"

The digidestineds watched in shock a black sword stabbing Friede right in the middle of her chest, where her core was, by behind. The digimon fell, Auri was behind her. Aurélia had stood up, grabbed the sword and walked in her direction without the other noticing. Friede turned her head to see her. Her body was shaking, her control over her power was disappearing. The electrical web vanished. Persefonemon ran to Weisheit, who was fading away faster. The black sword was fading away slowly.

"You ant..." Friede was furious, "I'LL DESTROY YOU!"

Before Friede could do anything, Auri was wrapped by chains and pulled from that place. Few meters from there, Charles and Chainmon were standing. They had just arrived.

"It's Grayman!" Matt was surprised. Charles didn't give any attention to the others, he was focused on Auri. Her clothes were red because of the blood. Ceresmon, who had been observing the situation, unable to do anything, came to examine her.

"She has lost too much blood and her lung is torn." The digimon said.

"But you can do something, right?" Chainmon asked.

"I don't have any healing substance and her wound is too serious. If at least master Leben was here..."

Charles was holding Auri in his arms. She was getting cold. It had to be something he could do. She couldn't die like that.

"... Charles..." Auri had opened her eyes a little and spoke in a weak voice. "... is it you?"

"Yes, I came." Grayman couldn't help, he was shaking and could feel water in his eyes. "Don't talk. You must rest."

"You really came..."

Auri felt water dropping on her face. Soon she realized it was not rain.

"Why... did... you... come?"

"You think what? You're not the only idiot who falls in love for someone you shouldn't!"

Auri stared at him. Charles forced a smile, saying:

"Yeah, I understood what you told me that night." he hugged her tightly, "You're a stupid girl. But you'll never be as stupid as I am."

Auri gave him a true smile.

"You're not stuck in your little world anymore... I'm so happy... it was worthy... we both accomplished..."

Auri closed her eyes and didn't talk anymore. She also didn't move.

"Frau Schultz." Grayman called her without answer, "Talk to me. This is not funny! Talk to me!"

Matt and Sora had approached them. Charles was sobbing.

"Frau Schultz... Aurélia... talk to me! TALK TO ME!"

"Grayman..." Matt tried to say something, but Charles didn't want to hear.

"I beg you, Aurélia... talk to me!"

Meanwhile, Friede was lying on the ground. _This can't end like this. I can't be killed by lowlives like them! Everybody despised me. Nobody respected me. They treated me as a weak brat. I can't bear this humiliation. I'll drag them all to Hell with me!_

Even fading away, Friede's lines began to glow with intensity. Weisheit, who was almost done for, was scared.

"She's going to use her final attack."

"But she was hit in her core by a mithiryl sword. There's nothing she can do to save herself." Persefonemon said.

"She's not trying to save herself. This is a suicidal attack that turns her body into energy and cause a massive explosion." Weisheit told her, "It's impossible to escape."

The digidestineds were afraid. Matt and Sora tried to convince Grayman to go with them to a safer place, but the boy refused to move. He stayed there crying and holding Auri. Friede stood up.

"You all will turn to ash. You'll all pay for your insolence. FEGEFEUER!"

A huge explosion took place, destroying Tokyo. The barrier Weisheit had built around Izzy's block was able to protect the ones inside it from the explosion. After the shock wave, the sword that was supporting the barrier fade away and the barrier disappeared. Tai was lying unconscious on the ground. Izzy was still awake, but he couldn't move. Glaube was on his knees with both hands holding his head. He seemed to be in pain.

"Stop it!" the digimon was saying, "I'm in control of this body!"

His mind was tormented, as if someone was trying to take control of him. Someone was shouting "he's hurt!" desperately in his mind.

"STOP IT! I'M THE THIRD! I'M STRONGER THAN YOU! I WON'T LET YOU TAKE CONTROL! GO BACK TO YOUR PLACE!"

Mr. Izumi, by hearing the yells, reached the place where Glaube, Izzy and Tai were. Glaube was out of control.

"Everything is your fault!" Glaube began to say, staring at Izzy with pure hatred. He pointed the spear to him, "DISAPPEAR!"

When Glaube was about to kill Izzy, Masami fired a hand gun against the digimon. The bullets, however, weren't able to hurt Glaube. When Masami saw the other's face, he went pale.

"You... you are..." he began to speak. Glaube looked like a man he had known a long time ago. The bullets made Glaube even angrier, he wanted to destroy everything, to kill everybody. But suddenly, a light came from the sky, paralyzing everyone. A man appeared before their eyes, between Izzy and Glaube. His mere presence made them have trouble to breathe and even stay on their feet. Glaube stared at the man as if he was seeing a ghost. Masami had the same reaction.

"Glaube, you seriously were going to kill Koushiro, weren't you?" the man asked, Glaube was unable to speak, "I'll let Innocence sweetheart deal with you."

A light gate appeared behind Glaube, who was pulled by it, disappearing. The man looked to Izzy. The boy had fainted.

"I guess my presence was too much for him to take now. It's fine, we'll deal with it later." The man grabbed Izzy and held him in his arms. A huge white door that reached the sky appeared behind him. Mr. Izumi, still unable to move, was in deep despair.

"Don't take him!" he yelled, "Please, don't take him! DON'T TAKE KOUSHIRO AWAY!"

The man looked to Mr. Izumi as if he was saying nonsense, then he smiled at him and said:

"Why this reaction, Masami Izumi? Koushiro will return to the place he belongs to. You always knew that he wasn't yours. But we thank you for taking care of him for so long. As a sign of our gratitude, we'll let you all be fine."

The door opened. Everything was consumed by light.

When Sabine realized, she was in Dr. Kido's apartment, next to him was his wife and Mrs. Izumi lying on the couch. They seemed to be confused. Few time after Sabine and Yoshie had entered the place, a shock wave had knocked the building down and nobody remembered anything after that. It had been too fast. But now the building was up again, as if nothing had happened. And the most surprising thing was Yoshie waking up suddenly.

"What's going on?" she asked. Dr. Kido examined her and realized the deep wound she had when she entered the apartment had vanished, as if it had never been there. Sabine took a look outside the window and saw that everything was calm and the place didn't seem to have suffered any sort of serious damage. There were people on the street who seemed confused.

"It's some kind of miracle. There's no other explanation." Mrs. Kido said. Dr. Kido wasn't able to talk. Sabine approached Yoshie.

"Mrs. Izumi, are you OK?"

"Yes, I don't feel pain or anything. I don't understand what happened.

"Wait here, okay? I'll look for Izzy." Sabine told her, but Mrs. Izumi wouldn't let the girl go alone.

"I'll go with you." she said. Meanwhile, where the digidestineds were, Persefonemon opened her eyes and saw that all the buildings in the area were intact and everybody was alive, including her master.

"Master Weisheit!" Persefonemon hugged the digimon tightly. Weisheit wasn't hurt anymore. Even his sword that was fading away a while ago now was intact in the place where Friede had been before using her attack. Davis and Ken realized, astonished, that there was someone else among them.

"IMPERIALDRAMON!" they yelled when they saw their partner alive. He turned back to V-mon and Wormmon and didn't know what had happened. Charles was holding Auri a little far from there. He noticed that the wound in her chest had vanished. The girl opened her eyes and looked to him. Charles was speechless.

"Aurélia?" he asked, astonished. Auri smiled.

"So you know my name after all-" she was interrupted. Grayman kissed her on the lips. She kissed him back. Matt, Sora and the others were looking at them. After the kiss, Grayman told her, angrily:

"Don't dare die in my arms ever again! Otherwise, I'll chase you even in Hell if it's necessary!"

"You destroyed all the romanticism of the situation." Auri joked, but then she added, "I'll try my best, Charles."

Davis, suddenly, made a question:

"Everybody is here and fine. You guys don't think this is Heaven, right?"

"What kind of question is this? We are all alive!" TK stated, "We just don't know how."

Weisheit was concentrated, using his eyes to look for Izzy. In the place where Tai and Masami were, Tai was awake by someone. When he opened his eyes, he saw Wargreymon leaning over him.

"WARGREYMON!" Tai couldn't believe that his friend was alive. He hugged him and soon noticed his wound had disappeared and the buildings around them weren't destroyed at all. Izzy, however, wasn't there anymore. Tai saw Mr. Izumi on his knees few meters ahead.

"Mr. Izumi? What are you doing here? What happened?" Tai approached the man, but the other didn't answer. Masami seemed devastated. Tai, suddenly, heard steps behind him. He turned around and saw Mrs. Izumi and a pale teenager girl walking toward him. He had no idea from where they had come.

"Masami?" Mrs. Izumi called her husband. Masami gave her a sad look "What happened? Where is Koushiro?"

"He was taken away..." Masami answered in a very low tone of voice, "I couldn't protect him... _he_ took him away."

"What? Who are you talking about? Who took our son away?" Yoshie was shocked. Tears were falling from Masami's eyes before he answered:

"Shunsui."

In another place, Izzy woke up on the grass. He felt no pain, but he was tired. His wounds had been healed. He could hear a conversation a little far from there.

"So you denied the deaths and the destruction?" a male voice asked.

"Yes. Friede was the only one I didn't bring back. She told inconvenient things to the digidestineds. Besides, she wasn't ordered to commit suicide and destroy the entire city. At least for now, I won't bring her back." a female voice replied.

"What about Glaube?"

"I haven't decided what to do with him. He's locked in a special room."

"I think the boy woke up." the man said. Izzy turned his head to the left and saw a man coming to where he was. When he got close enough, the boy recognized his face from a photo Auri had showed him a while ago.

"You're... Shunsui Yukimura?" the boy asked in shock.

"What? No, I was just made to look like him. You can call me Achtundzwanzig." he said, smiling, "There's someone you need to know. Innocence sweetheart, come here!"

_Innocence? He means Unschuld? Am I in her dimension? Damn it! So I was caught. Now I'm going to meet her._

**Flash-back**

"The subjective universe, where it is the Digital World's central code and that is deeply connected to the World of Dreams." Izzy muttered. The Heart continued:

"Exactly. As you know, my conscience is based on your personality, or on your inner world, if you prefer. It's not different with the other part. The Digital World is shaped by the World of Dreams. For example, the dark sea, a dimension of the Digital World, is made by the dark feelings of people. So, the central code is related to the World of Dreams as well."

"Sea?" Izzy suddenly asked himself if it was a coincidence that the darkness in his mind also had formed a kind of sea.

"But I can't really say if that sea and the rest of the Digital World are like that because of the entire World of Dreams or the one that had originated _her_ self." The Heart said. Izzy and Sabine frowned.

"Her self?" the boy asked.

"If she was a result of billions of inner worlds, it would be impossible for her to develop a single 'self.' That's why I believe she had her personality based on someone's personality. Probably a scientist that was in that laboratory when the incident happened. While 'I' was attracted by your inner world in formation, she must have had some contact with an inner world of an adult. Probably, at the same time the wave reached you and I was pulled by your mind, she had contact with this person's mind. But they didn't become one because it was impossible for the 'body' to leave our dimension that time. Even now, if she did it, she would just bring instability to any world she entered." The Heart was talking fast.

"HEART!" Izzy yelled, "Who's 'she?' What 'body' are you talking about?"

The Heart analyzed Izzy for a while. Then, he said:

"I thought it was obvious. I'm a 'heart,' so I'm talking about the body I belong to: the universe created by the incident. And when I say 'she,' I'm referring to the body, the universe, the Digital World's central code, it doesn't matter how you call her. But she calls herself... Unschuld."

"No." Izzy refused to believe in that, "You're lying! This can't be true! You told me you were the heart of the Digital World and that Unschuld wanted to unite you with the central code to control it. If she's the central code, why would she...? It doesn't make sense. Nothing in your story makes sense! It's illogical to even think that the central code would be in another universe outside the Digital World!"

"I already explained that! It's not just the central code, but also a large amount of information and energy of other universes that came from the wormholes. It originated a subjective universe connected to the Digital World and the World of Dreams. I'm sorry for not having told you the whole story before. But nobody besides me and Unschuld knows her true identity."

"It's nonsense!" Izzy was too confused.

"It makes a lot of sense, if you stop to think about it." Sabine said, "But if Unschuld is the central code, she doesn't need Izzy to control the Digital World, right?"

"Yes. But I don't believe she wants to control anything." The Heart replied, "All she wants is to be complete again. She wants her heart back."

"How do you know that?" Izzy asked suddenly.

The Heart pointed to the white door and said:

"Sometimes I can hear her. She cries a lot and talks to herself. Even creating 'brothers' and 'sisters' and giving them her powers... none of them is strong enough to live with her in that place. The loneliness hurts. For her, having me back is like a last hope, a way out of her misery."

"So you feel sorry for her?" Izzy asked.

"I understand her. But I don't want to give myself to her. It would be like become an 'it' again. She has a lot of stability already. After all these years, she never lost her original self, even not sharing a body with a human. But it's just a shadow of someone, not a complete self. She thinks she can be complete again by having me."

**End of flash-back**

_It's the time to meet her__. What will happen from now on?_ Izzy was wondering. When the woman reached the place where he was, she put herself on her knees and touched his face gently.

"I'm glad you're here, Koushiro." she said. When Izzy looked to her, he went pale. The long and bright red hair. The kind brown eyes. The woman he had seen in that photo next to Shunsui. It was impossible. She couldn't be Unschuld! He didn't want to believe. But that face... it was, without a doubt, the face of Catherine Renoir. Unschuld smiled at him and said:

"It's time now. We shall begin."

**If you're wondering, the transla****tion of the label is "Knocking on Heaven's Door", I just think it sounds cooler in Portuguese, and since Auri had a big participation in the chapter...**

**I hope you liked**** it. Starts now what I call the final part. But the next chapter will take a while to be written.**


	22. The fool

From now on I'll use quotation marks for speeches and italic for thoughts. When I have the time, I'll correct these things in the rest of the chapters.

**Chapter 22: The fool**

Weisheit and the others ran all speed to Izzy's block. He took his sword from the spot he had put it to create a barrier. Looking around, Weisheit found Tai, Sabine and Mr. and Mrs. Izumi. Izzy's adoptive father was on his knees with a devastated face. Yoshie had her eyes fill with water. Tai had a confused and scared face; he didn't understand the situation. Sabine was alone, leaning against a wall not too far. Nobody could see her face.

"What happened here?" Charles asked to nobody in particular. Sabine was the one who answered: "It seems... Koushiro was taken away."

Everybody frowned when Sabine stated that.

"Does it mean Glaube...?" Auri was saying, but Sabine interrupted: "It wasn't Glaube."

Weisheit couldn't believe in that. "What do you mean? Was it Leben who...?" he began.

"It wasn't her either," Sabine told him. Weisheit was confused. _If it wasn't Leben neither Glaube, who could have been? Unschuld can't come to this world!_

Tai decided to talk, since nobody else seemed able to do it. "Mr. Izumi called the man who took Izzy by a name. I think it was Shunsui."

Auri, Charles, Matt, Sora, Joe and Mimi were astonished. The others weren't understanding anything. Weisheit refused to believe in that: "Shunsui has died many years ago. Even if he hadn't, he would never do anything bad to Koushiro."

"Who's this 'Shunsui' you're talking about?" Tai questioned. Weisheit didn't pay attention to him: "It couldn't be Shunsui. It must have been a trick, a hallucination."

"Traum died, it couldn't have been a hallucination. Perhaps there was a Digimon with the ability to change appearance," Auri suggested.

"Nobody in the family had such ability!" Weisheit stated.

"It wasn't a hallucination or someone pretending to be him!" Masami said abruptly and in loud voice, "That man was my cousin. He acted and spoke as Shunsui used to. I don't know how this is possible or why he would do such a thing, but I'm sure it was him. It wasn't just a resemblance with someone, like Glaube was."

The information surprised the most of them.

"Glaube looked like someone you knew, either?" Auri asked.

"When Yoshie and I visited that institution years ago, we met a man who looked a lot like Glaube," Masami informed. Sabine knew about who the man was talking. _So it_ _wasn't just me_, she thought.

"I think I know about who you're saying. The resemblance is quite odd, but I always thought it was a weird coincidence. That man had nothing to do with the experiment, after all," Weisheit said. Tai was becoming impatient:

"Can someone explain what the hell is going on? Where is Izzy?"

"Shunsui had appeared with a white light," Masami was speaking in low voice, as if he was talking to himself. "He had paralyzed Glaube and made him disappear through some kind of gate. I remember him saying he was sending the other to 'Innocence sweetheart'."

This time, Weisheit, his followers and the members of the association couldn't hide their shock.

"He called Unschuld 'sweetheart'?" Persefonemon couldn't believe it. "That's very disrespectful for a follower to refer to his master."

"This is not the worst!" Ceresmon said. "This mysterious man was able to paralyze the Third!"

"Not just paralyze," Masami continued in low voice, "it was hard to breathe or stand. Koushiro even fainted with his presence. Then, a huge white door appeared. I think it reached the sky. I begged for him to not take Koushiro away..." Masami sobbed. "He said Koushiro was going to return to the place he belonged to... and that I knew he didn't... he didn't belong to me..." Tears began to fall from Masami's eyes; Yoshie hid her face in her hands. The man continued: "He thanked me for taking care of Koushiro for so long and said we all would be fine as a sign of gratitude... that door opened and all I could see was that white light... when I realized, Koushiro and Sunsui had vanished and everything was back to normal."

Mr. Izumi couldn't talk anymore, his wife hugged him and they both cried in silence. Weisheit fell to his knees.

_A white door... I remember Koushiro mentioning a white door in his mind that was connected to Unschuld's world. It means Koushiro was really taken to that place. Despite everything I did... I failed in protecting him._

"What do we do now?" Tai asked. "How can we rescue Izzy?"

"There's nothing we can do," Grayman said. "If Izumi was taken to Unschuld's world, he's completely out of our range by now."

"Who the hell are you? How can you say there's nothing we can do?!" Tai asked, angry. Grayman just looked at him with indifference and said: "Even if we could go to that place, what would we do against Unschuld? We don't even know if Izumi is still..."

"WHAT? HE'S STILL WHAT?!" Tai yelled in fury. Charles didn't answer anything at all. The truth was that even he didn't want to imagine what could have happened to Izzy.

"Matt..." TK called his brother. Matt knew what he wanted.

"We'll explain the situation for you all," Matt announced. Charles began to walk away from there.

"Where are you going?" Sora asked him.

"This is not of your business," he said. Auri followed him.

"I haven't asked you to come," Charles told her.

"I haven't asked for your permission," she said. They stared at each other for a while. Then, knowing she wouldn't retreat, Charles let Auri follow him. Chainmon was about to follow them, but Ceresmon stopped him.

"What do you think you're doing?" she asked.

"I'm supposed to protect him," he replied.

"You idiot! If the enemies wanted us dead, they wouldn't have resurrected us, don't you think?" Ceresmon said. Chainmon didn't say anything else. Weisheit was in a deathly silence_. Shunsui... Catherine... I'm sorry_.

**Fourteen years before**

"Wake up, dear," someone said. When he opened his eyes, he was lying on the floor of a room next to a tissue cylinder where a light glowed. Around him, there were four people with lines drawn on their faces. He quickly realized he had black lines on him. He was wearing white and clean clothes that were pretty alike to the ones the others were wearing.

"He seems to be stupid," the guy with purple hair said, approaching him. He looked to the other in the eyes, but was disappointed by something: "His mind... I can't read it! Don't tell me his power is greater than mine!"

"He has just been born, of course his mind is empty," the woman with green hair said.

"Pathetic," a girl with braid mocked. A voice came from the cylinder and scolded her: "Don't say that, Friede! You all were like him when you were born."

The four frowned. The voice continued: "He's your little brother. You must take good care of him."

"What kind of ability does he have?" the man with orange hair asked seriously.

"His power is in his eyes. With them, he can see what nobody else can" the voice replied.

"Super eyes?" Friede mocked. "What kind of silly ability is this?"

"Someone with such arrogance is not able to understand his value," the voice said in a motherly way. The young man lying on the ground was giving an empty look to the tissue.

"Physically, he really is weaker than you," the voice added. "His name will be Weisheit. He's the sixth."

_The sixth... I am the sixth..._ This was Weisheit's first thought. He learned his importance – his position inside that family – before of everything. The days passed. Weisheit began to learn all kinds of things. In fact, he understood things faster than anyone. However, no matter how much he trained his body, he wasn't able to beat anyone in battle. It often came time for Friede and Traum to test their powers on Weisheit.

"STOP IT, PLEASE!" Weisheit screamed in pain, lying on the ground and sobbing. On a certain afternoon, Traum had tortured him with terrible nightmares and would have continued if Glaube hadn't shown up and stopped him:

"Lady Unschuld has told you many times to not torture Weisheit, hasn't she?" Glaube said coldly.

"What? I'm just playing with my little brother. What's wrong with it?" Traum asked, pretending to be offended. Glaube gave him a frosty look. The other decided it would be better if he walked away from there.

"OK, then! He's all yours, Glaube!" Traum told the other while leaving. Weisheit stood up, relieved.

"Thank you, Glaube. You saved..."

"Don't talk to me, you lowlife!" Glaube said with contempt, what scared Weisheit to death.

"G-Glaube..."

"I told you to not talk to me! I don't need to hear the voice of a weak being that is not able to do anything by himself! You disgust me." After saying that, Glaube turned his back to Weisheit and left the place. _If it wasn't for Lady Unschuld's happiness, I would have smashed that worm long time ago_, Glaube was thinking. Weisheit stared at the ground.

_What...am I doing here? I don't feel I belong to this place. I wish... I wish I could be strong like Glaube is. _Weisheit admired Glaube. He was the most loyal follower Unschuld had. Glaube was insanely powerful and superior to almost everyone, Weisheit knew that he would never be worthy of speaking to Glaube as an equal. His weakness ashamed him. He hated being what he was. Weisheit's heart became heavy and dark with the time. The acknowledge of new things, however, distracted him of his loneliness. He began to investigate Digital World. By examining that world, Weisheit made discoveries whose consequences he wouldn't expect.

In one of his trips to collect data in Digital World, he walked through a dark forest and began to feel cold. He fell to the ground and shivered.

"What is this? What is happening? Where am I?" he was muttering to himself. Weisheit forced his eyes to see into the deep darkness of the forest. What he saw with his eyes made him lose his voice. In the same place the forest was, he could see a superimposed image of a beach. The sea was frightening black and strange creatures were walking on the sand. The creatures were like shadows with red eyes. They were staring at Weisheit. _What are those things? Are they seeing me? It's as if the Forest and the beach were at the same place, but..._ Weisheit couldn't finish his thought. The shadows grabbed him and pulled him to the beach. Soon, there was no sign of the forest.

Weisheit was being dragged to the dark sea. His entire body was immobile as if he was being held by invisible chains. He couldn't even yell for help. When the cold water wet his body, he felt he was in Hell. The shadows were screaming and crying in agony. They hurt each other with punches, bites and scratches, as if they were trying to break free from that place. _I don't want to see this. Someone make this stop!_ Weisheit was desperate. Suddenly, arrows on fire fell into the water and the strange creatures ran in fear. Weisheit fainted.

When he woke up, he found himself lying on a warm bed. The room in which the bed stayed was circular and didn't have any window, but there were stairs that led to down and up to different levels. Three small creatures were sitting on the ground near the bed. Weisheit recognized them as a Gazimon, a Floramon, and a Salamon. The Salamon was the first one to realize he had awakened.

"You're finally awake; we thought you were done for," she said a little rudely.

"What happened to me? What place is this?" Weisheit wanted to know.

"This is a lighthouse. It's where we live," Floramon said nicely. "It's the safest place in this Dark Sea Zone, since the darkness fears light."

"Darkness?" Weisheit asked. "Was it that was dragging me into the sea?"

"Yeah. We don't really know what this darkness is, though," the Gazimon said with a lazy voice. "Some Digimon come or are brought to this place. They can be either pure souls to who it has been asked for help or tormented souls who sink in darkness. The second type ends up disappearing and becoming pure dark power. It's what was going to happen to you if we hadn't saved you."

"Thank you," Weisheit said. He was thinking about what they had told him. _Those who sink in darkness come to this place and become pure dark power. My own darkness...and I even had to be rescued by Digimon in child level..._ Weisheit put his hand on his chest, the sound of glass breaking was heard; it alarmed the three who lived there.

"It's coming! The darkness is coming!" Gazimon said, worried. A black fog was coming from above and under them. Weisheit seemed to not realize it. The fog was going toward him.

"It's him! He's calling the darkness!" Salamon stated. Weisheit couldn't hear her anymore. _I'm so weak... so useless... worthless... I can't do anything by myself..._

"Are you listening? You must stop thinking negative things, otherwise..." Floramon was saying, when the three of them were attacked by the fog. There was no escape. Salamon, even hurting, gave her best to free her friends, but it was useless. Her only hope was the mysterious being they had saved.

"HELP US!" she cried, desperate; Weisheit didn't move. Putting all her strength in her legs, she jumped to Weisheit and hit him on the head. "DO SOMETHING!!!!!"

He came back from his thoughts and realized what was happening. Gazimon and Floramon were already unconscious. Salamon was crying over his head: "Make this stop! This fog is here because of you... My friends... I beg you..."

_Fog_, Weisheit thought, watching the humanoid shadows beating, biting and scratching the Digimon._They can't see these creatures. The reason why I can see them is probably because of my eyes. But it's useless to just be able to see them. I can't fight shadows. I can't do anything._

Salamon, powerless, muttered to Weisheit: "You're bigger than us. Why don't you fight?"

"I'm useless and weak; it wouldn't make any difference."

Salamon got angry and beat Weisheit's forehead fiercely. "DON'T GIVE ME THIS EXCUSE, YOU COWARD!!! THERE'S ALWAYS SOMETHING YOU CAN DO!!"

Those words bothered Weisheit. Salamon continued: "We three are a weak and useless lot. The darkness called me to this place and I got trapped. My friends came with me and we tried to get out of this place for years. We failed all the time, but we refused to give up! If you are stubborn enough, if you try your hard... you always can find something you can do... otherwise, we wouldn't have been able to save you."

Salamon didn't have any more power to keep talking. Weisheit looked at the shadows attacking the Digimon. He felt something he couldn't define taking place in his heart. He jumped from bed, letting the sheet fall to the ground, and he kicked the floor into pieces. Then Weisheit began to beat the pieces of rock at each other to make some sparks appear. The sparks were increasing and fell on the sheet, starting a small fire. The shadows got scared and began to run away.

After the shadows had gone away, Weisheit stopped the fire. He felt a string pulling his right hand's little finger. He turned his head and saw Leben standing behind him.

"Leben? How can you...?"

"Life Line," she said, pointing to the line connecting their little fingers. "I'm able to go to anywhere there's life. Unschuld was worried about you and asked me to search for you. What happened?"

Weisheit told Leben everything. She examined the three Digimon and came to a conclusion: "They've suffered too much damage. I don't think I can save them."

"Don't say that, please," Weisheit didn't want to lose the hope.

"The darkness seems to have affected their cores. I can't see the core of a Digimon, so I can't handle it. Besides, I don't believe I could remove the darkness even if I could see the core," Leben said in a deep serious tone. "Do you have any clue about what to do?"

Weisheit thought about the problem for some minutes, then he said, "It's necessary to prevent them to become shadows, but we can't remove the darkness from them. So, we have to make their bodies accept the darkness. But for this, we need to manipulate their data and change their own cores."

"But I said I can't see the core," Leben reminded him. Weisheit gave her an enigmatic smile and said: "Leave this part to me."

Two days later, three Digimon woke up in a garden. They looked to each other and screamed in fear.

"Who the hell are you?" a pale girl wearing a Gothic dress asked a guy wearing a black cloak with chains in his arms and a girl wearing a brown dress and with pink hair. The other two were confused as well.

"Where are Salamon and Floramon?" the guy asked. The girl in Gothic dress said she was Salamon and the one in the brown dress said she was Floramon. Fortunately, Leben and Weisheit came to explain the things:

"You three are Salamon, Gazimon and Floramon," Weisheit told them. "I had to modify your cores and data in order to adapt your bodies to the darkness. I'm sorry for that."

"It means we are dark Digimon now?" the Digimon with cloak asked, not sounding worried. "What kind of Digimon are we?"

"I'm not pretty sure. I don't think there are other Digimon like you. But I can give you names," Weisheit told them. "You, with the Gothic dress, you may be Persefonemon, what do you think?"

Persefonemon didn't say anything; Weisheit was worried. _She used to be a holy Digimon, of course she's not satisfied by being a dark one now_. "You, with the pink hair, you may be Ceresmon."

"I liked," Ceresmon answered satisfied. She was happy for being alive and out of the Dark Sea Zone. The Digimon with cloak decided to express his wish: "Can I be called Chainmon?"

"Why that name? It's so uncool!" Ceresmon mocked. Leben called Weisheit in particular: "They can stay with me in my garden. I don't think they would be welcome in the palace."

"I know. Thank you for everything," Weisheit told her. He saw Persefonemon walking away from that spot and followed her. She sat next to a tree a little far from there. Weisheit sat next to her.

"It's good to be out of that place," she muttered.

"I'm sorry," Weisheit apologized, sad.

"Sorry for what?" she asked, not understanding.

"Because of me you got hurt and now you are like this," Weisheit stated without looking at her. Persefonemon stayed in silence for a while, then, she said: "Idiot. I was the one who put them in danger. I saw you in the water and went to rescue you. They followed me... they always do that and they always get trouble because of me. I thank you for helping us."

Weisheit didn't know what to say. Persefonemon smiled and added:

"For having saving us, you are pretty amazing."

"It was nothing, Leben did the major part..."

"What's your name?"

"Uh, it's Weisheit."

Persefonemon studied him for a while. Then, she stood up and said with determination: "OK! From now on, you'll be our master. We'll follow you forever."

**Two days later**

Unschuld had convened the members of the family to her room. She had an important announcement:

"Before you were born, Digital World was almost invaded by dangerous creatures from another world. I've found out recently these creatures were human beings."

"Human beings?", Weisheit asked. He knew few things about the human world because of his investigations.

"How dare they? Those heretics!" Glaube was disgusted. "They must be punished!"

Unschuld took a few time before continue talking: "They will be punished. It's up to you do that. But there's a more important thing."

"What?" Leben asked. She wasn't liking this conversation.

"Digital World's heart is inside a human child named Koushiro Yukimura. It's imperative you bring me this child alive. You can kill the others."

Weisheit was pale. "Why kill them? This is horrible. It must..."

"Do not question Lady Unschuld, you worm!" Glaube scolded him. Weishet fell silent from fear. Leben, however, had a question:

"What do you want to do with this 'heart'?"

Unschuld didn't reply immediately. "The heart is necessary for my plans," she simply said.

"It's to control Digital World and bring peace and justice for it, right?" Friede asked, excited.

"It's to destroy human world, right?" Glaube asked seriously. Unschuld, however, didn't answer any question objectively. "Do what I've ordered," she said. Leben walked away.

"Where are you going?" Traum asked.

"Do not count me for this job. I refuse to participate," Leben said.

"If you turn your back to us, you'll be punished," Glaube told her. Leben stared at him for several minutes.

"Do your best. But you'll not be able to even scratch my face," she said, leaving.

_What should I do?_ Weisheit was in a dilemma. He knew he couldn't go against his family. But he also knew it was wrong to kill people and kidnap a kid. His fear, however, was stronger and he did nothing to stop the others.

**Two weeks later**

"Just remember to stay out of my way, Weisheit," Traum told him when they crossed a gate opened by Unschuld and arrived in the institution a certain night. "I'll go after the woman called Maria Weiss. She was in that experiment in which they tried to break into Digital World. There are just her and the heart's keeper's family left to punish."

"You're going to kill her?" Weisheit asked.

"Not right now. I'll play with her a little bit. Who knows, perhaps Unschuld let her alive to be my doll," Traum said that with a sadistic smile that disgusted Weisheit. But Weisheit didn't say a single word. He knew what the consequences would be if he did. He was supposed to wait outside and not let anyone see him. But the anxiety was too much. _If I were stronger... If I could stop them...or at least convince them. Isn't there anything I can do? No. I can't resolve this with some fire sparks. This is beyond my abilities._

Weisheit walked through the place without being noticed. Suddenly, passing near a building, Weisheit heard a woman crying. Her voice was oddly familiar. He climbed a tree and spied through the window of an apartment. Inside it, he saw a woman with red hair sitting on the floor, crying with both hands on her face. A man was hugging her, trying to make her feel better. A baby was crying in a crib.

"They're coming after us! They're going to kill us, as they killed the others," she said in fear.

"Catherine, calm down, I'll protect you and Koushiro," the man told her. Catherine didn't believe.

"They're too strong. I know, they're not from this world. They'll come to take Koushiro away and kill us."

"What? From where did you get this idea?"

"I don't know... sometimes these thoughts appear in my mind... but I know it's the truth..."

"Catherine, listen to me, I will not let anyone hurt my family. No matter how strong these enemies you're talking about are, I'll do everything to protect you two. I swear!" the man said with determination. Weisheit was surprised by such courage. _He's weaker than me, but he's so brave... this kid, Koushiro, is he who...?_

"Shunsui," Catherine hugged him tightly, "I will fight with all my heart too. No matter what it costs, I'll make sure they don't get what they want."

Weisheit felt ashamed as he never had felt before. _They are frightened, but they won't give up. They will fight until the end, despite their weakness. While I... Enough! It's time to take a side and stop being coward!_

Weisheit opened the window and entered the apartment. With horror in their eyes, Shunsui and Catherine ran to where the crib was. They put themselves between Weisheit and the baby.

"You're one of them, aren't you?" Catherine asked, frightened. "You came to kill us and take Koushiro."

"GO AWAY!" Shunsui clenched his fists. Deep down, he was scared to death, but he would not let that creature harm Koushiro and Catherine. Weisheit decided to introduce himself:

"I'm Weisheit, the sixth. I came to help you," he stated for the couple's surprise. "I'll explain your situation first."

After he had explained everything to them, Shunsui and Catherine found the story hard to believe. But they ended up accepting Weisheit's help. Koushiro began to cry again, so Catherine took him on her arms and sang to him. There was something about her voice that really bothered Weisheit. Shunsui went to the kitchen to get some wine. He was pretty nervous. Weisheit followed him.

"There are really strong enemies coming after us, aren't there?" Shunsui asked without looking to Weisheit. "I told comforting things to Catherine, but... I don't really believe I'm capable of protecting them. I'm afraid... I'm afraid of what may happen," he whispered.

"You don't believe in victory, but you'll not stop fighting to protect the people you love. You're very admirable," Weisheit told him.

"I'm not that! Please, don't tell Catherine I told you this. I don't want her to worry about me."

"OK," Weisheit said. When he was about to leave the kitchen, Shunsui called him again: "Can I ask you a favor?"

"Sure."

"If Catherine and I fail... can you protect Koushiro, please?" Shunsui had tears in his eyes. Weisheit wasn't sure about what he should answer.

"I promise I'll protect you all," Weisheit stated. Shunsui gave him a thankful smile. Catherine went to the kitchen with a sleeping Koushiro in her arms.

"Joseph just called to my cell phone. It seems Maria went to the hospital, but he didn't explain it better," she said, worried.

"Who's Joseph?" Weisheit asked.

"She's talking about Joseph Weiss," Shunsui explained. "He's a childhood friend of her, almost a brother."

Weisheit suddenly remembered Maria was the name of the woman Traum said he was going to visit. There was no time left.

"You must get out of here right away," he stated.

"But, we don't have any place to go, and we can't leave Jos...," Catherine was saying, but Shunsui interrupted her:

"We can go to some hotel tonight and tomorrow go to Berlin. It would be good to be away from this place. If we could get some false ID and go to Japan by plane... that's it!", Shunsui picked the telephone and dialed a number. "Catherine, go pack some things. I'll call my cousin in Japan, he may be helpful."

"I have to go now, if I don't show up it could be suspicious. I'll meet you in the hotel tomorrow, don't leave it before I get there," Weisheit said. He knew he had to meet Traum in the place they had arrived earlier.

"But, how will you be able to find us?" Catherine asked. Weisheit smiled and replied: "Don't worry, there's nothing in the world I can't find with my eyes."

Weisheit was pondering about how he could confront the family. _I have a good speed, but this is not enough to fight them. All I have are my eyes and my intelligence. This is nothing compared to what they have. I'm so pessimistic. If, at least, I could turn my pessimismticness into strength_... Weisheit suddenly remembered about the pure dark power he had witnessed that time in the Dark Sea Zone. _That's it! If I investigate this power... I gotta hurry._

After returning, Weisheit spent the rest of the night and the most of the next day in his investigation. He was in Leben's garden. His followers were worried about him. He didn't stop to eat or sleep and he was doing something with his own code. After long exhausting hours, he finally managed to take some darkness from his heart. The substance split in two and took the form of swords. _That's it!_ he thought happily. He was preparing himself to leave when Leben and the three Digimon came to talk to him.

"You're really going to do this, aren't you?" Leben asked, sounding indifferent.

"Yes," Weisheit confirmed. Then, he looked to the worried faces of his followers and said: "You'll stay here with Leben. After today, it will not be safe anymore to be with me."

"No way!", Persefonemon told him, "I promised I would follow you until the end!"

"I'll follow you too!" Chainmon stated. Ceresmon was about to say something, but Leben interrupted: "It's inevitable that they ask me to find you after everything is over. You know I don't have a lot of patience, so I'll just satisfy their wish."

"Leben..." Weisheit didn't know what to say. Leben continued:

"However, I'd like to have Ceresmon with me. It's going to be lonely without you. Do you agree, Ceresmon?" Leben asked her. Ceresmon thought for a while, then she agreed.

"Thank you," Weisheit said in low voice.

"Don't misunderstand me. I have my reasons to help you," Leben told him severely. Suddenly, a light gate appeared behind Weisheit and pulled him. He had been brought to Unschuld's room, where the tissue cylinder stayed.

"Weisheit," Unschuld's voice called him. "Do you have anything to share with me?"

Weisheit panicked. He began to tremble with both swords in his hands. _What do I do?_ he was thinking. Unschuld studied him and decided to speak again:

"I know what you're plotting, Weisheit. I could kill you right now, do you understand?"

_She's going to kill me! I knew it was useless! But I promised I would protect them. If I go back now..._

"Weisheit. I brought you here to forgive you," Unschuld told him. Weisheit couldn't believe in that.

"What?" he asked.

"I understand you don't like violence. I know how sensitive you are. I forgive you for trying to betray me," she spoke in a kind way that made Weisheit speechless. When he recovered from the shock, he replied:

"Why are you saying this?"

"You're my beloved little brother. It's up to me to take care of you and guide you in the right way."

"'Right way?'" Weisheit wasn't liking her speech. Unschuld continued:

"Yes. If you give up on trying to help those people, you'll be forgiven."

"What if I don't give up?" he asked seriously. Unschuld took a time before answering:

"Don't say nonsense, Weisheit. If you do that, you'd be treated as a traitor. If you betray me, you'll be punished."

Weisheit stayed in silence. Unschuld opened a light gate behind him and added: "I'll give you a choice. You may forget about those humans and live a good life here. Or you may be stupid enough to try to save them and die out there."

"This gate... does it lead to the hotel where they are?".

"No. They left the hotel. The gate leads to a road through where they'll pass in two minutes. And where Galube is waiting for them," she answered coldly. Weisheit's panic increased. He was about to run through the gate, but a white light paralyzed him.

"Don't be a fool, Weisheit," Unschuld's voice was terrifying. "You are weak. You know it, right? Glaube is the third and you are the sixth. If you go there, you'll just get killed. Even if you managed to save them, you would live in Hell, without any place to return."

Weisheit stayed in silence. Satisfied, Unschuld removed the light and let her brother free.

"What you said was true," Weisheit stated. Unschuld was happy with the reply, but he quickly added, "However..."

Weisheit walked to the gate and entered it. "... I prefer to be a fool who dies trying to do what I believe it's the right thing than a wise who lives peacefully and doesn't care about anyone else."

Astonished, Unschuld didn't say anything. Weisheit would not come back to the palace for many years.

**Present**

"Master Weisheit," Persefonemon called him. "What do we do now?"

Weisheit stood up and announced to the people and Digimon, "It's impossible for me to open a gate to Unschuld's own dimension. I don't have any information about that place."

"No" Yoshie sobbed. Nobody wanted to accept that. Tai punched a wall in frustration. Sabine kept her face down. Weisheit spoke again, "However, it may be possible to find a clue in Unschuld's palace."

Everybody gave him surprised looks.

"You can lead us there?" Tai was regaining his hope. Weisheit gave him a severe look.

"If any of you try to break into that place, you just get a horrible death. Only a complete idiot would invade that place."

Angst was filling the hearts of people and Digimon. _I don't care about the risks, I must rescue Izzy_, Tai had decided. After a little while, Weisheit continued, "Only a fool would throw his life away in a suicidal mission like this. That's why I'm the only one going."

Weisheit felt tons of astonished eyes on him. Before anyone had time to protest, he turned to his followers. The three of them had serious faces.

"I imagine what you must be feeling now," Weisheit said, "but I was wondering if you could help me with the programs to teleport to the palace."

There was a deep silence. After that, Persefonemon stared Weisheit in the eyes and said authoritatively, "If you die, we will never forgive you!" Then, they followed Weisheit to the roof of Izzy's building and drawn the codes over the floor. Weisheit was about to activate them when Sabine appeared there.

"You can't come, Sabine," he told her.

"I didn't ask you that favor to sit down and wait," she said with great determination. "I will go there with or without your permission."

"Are you going to risk your life for him?" Weisheit asked softly. Sabine took a breath and replied, "I have no intention to die. I'll go to protect the most important thing to me."

Weisheit realized he couldn't persuade Sabine to retreat. He agreed on taking her along. The codes were activated and they vanished from the roof.

**I dedicate this chapter to Kaito Lune. Thanks for being my****Beta Reader. *_***


	23. Family issues

**Chapter 23: Family issues**

Glaube was in a completely dark room. He could see nothing, all he knew was that he was lying on a cold ground.

"What happened to me?" he muttered to himself. The last thing Glaube could remember was he standing in front of Koushiro, preparing to kill the boy, when a light paralyzed him and _he_ appeared_. That worm that I killed so many years ago... how could he appear in my way like that? And he had a presence and powers that I can only relate to Lady Unschuld. He was created by her, but he's different from the rest of us. Why did she create someone with that face?_

Deep down, Glaube knew the reason. He always knew it, but he refused to believe. The reason why Unschuld had ordered him to not kill Shunsui Yukimura, the reason why she had put him in that body, the reason why she had brought that man back. The realization of the truth made Glaube shiver. The anger... the humiliation... Leben's words echoed in his mind. Suddenly, he felt a being pulling him by his little finger. When he realized it, he was outside the dark room, on the hall. He was standing next to a person with a white tissue over the head. A green line connected his finger to this person's little finger. He wasn't really surprised when he saw it had been Leben who had rescued him.

"You're not going to ask me why I rescued you, are you?" Leben asked with a nervous smile. Glaube stared at her with indifference in his eyes. She looked to the ground and then turned her back to Glaube. Leben began to walk away from there.

"Are you expecting me to help you in whatever you're plotting?" Glaube questioned. Leben turned her face to him and gave him an embarrassed smile. "Long time ago I've learned to never expect anything from you, Glaube."

"If you knew I would never help you, why did you release me?"

"Probably because I'm an idiot," Leben spoke in a fake happy voice. After that, she got serious and asked, "Do you remember how it was when we met each other?"

Glaube didn't answer, so she continued: "Before you were born, I was alone in this palace. Unschuld talked to me; she gave me a garden full of plants; she said I was her beloved sister and that we would be a big and happy family. She was a glowing light in a tissue cylinder. I never saw her, but I knew... I could feel she was a lot stronger than me. She was a goddess, as you say. A goddess would never be the sister of someone inferior. I realized a long time ago that for Unschuld I could only be a servant, a lowlife she had created and let live just to prove how great she was. And when I noticed it, I began to hate her with all my heart. After some time, you were born. You were weaker than me, but the difference between our powers wasn't as big as the difference between my power and Unchuld's. You were closer to me than Unschuld could ever be and I felt I wasn't alone anymore."

Leben waited some time for Glaube's response. He didn't reply. She spoke again, "At the beginning, we were close. We talked and laughed. I felt happiness. But, slowly, your respect towards Unschuld became devotion... and your devotion became obsession... you started to despise me and you only cared about her. I tried to not let you go, I tried to walk by your side, but you repelled me. I tried to forget you, but, no matter how much I wanted it, it was impossible. Nobody else was able to fill the emptiness in my heart. You became arrogant, cold and distant... I wanted to hate you so much... but I couldn't stop loving you."

Leben didn't let Glaube see the tears falling from her eyes. She waited for some answer. When she thought he wouldn't reply anything at all, Glaube spoke suddenly, "What are you going to do now?"

"It's said the gods live in the sky. In name of these gods there are fights and deaths. Perhaps, if there weren't gods and the sky were empty, the world could be better and everyone would be happier."

"You're saying that you want to bring Lady Unschuld down so the world would be better?"

"No, I don't have such altruistic thoughts. I want to do this for myself. Are you going to try to stop me?"

Glaube stayed in silence for a few seconds. Then, he walked to the opposite way Leben was heading and said, "Do as you want."

Leben smiled widely and walked toward Unschuld's room. Meanwhile, Weisheit and Sabine had arrived in the underground dungeon of the palace. The place was filled with empty cages. In front of them, there were stairs that led to an upper floor and, at the left side, there was a small hall that led to a door in the main hall. Weisheit didn't know that that door had been closed and nobody had permission to go through there.

"Sabine, please wait here until I bring Koushiro back" Weisheit asked her. Sabine tried to protest, but Weisheit interrupted, "I need you to draw the codes over the ground. We won't have time to do it when I come back with Koushiro."

Weisheit had left one of his swords in the ground for this purpose. After that, he went through the stairs and left the girl alone. Some minutes later, Sabine heard a noise coming from the small hall. She went there to see what was making the noise. It was dark, but she could see some strange form attached to one of the walls. She could hear the sound of someone crying there. She couldn't believe in what she saw. A human body was fused to the wall. The thorax and the head projected to outside the wall while the rest of the body stayed inside it. But it wasn't the horrifying vision that disturbed Sabine, but, instead, it was who was there. The man looked to her in an odd way, as if he was doubting she could be there.

"Maria? No, it can't be you!"

Sabine's hands were trembling. How could he be there? Why was he there? Her face was pale and she questioned in low voice, "_Vater_?"

The man began to laugh manically, as if he had gone insane in that place. Joseph Weiss looked at her and commented "the daughter I left behind is standing in my front. This is really Hell!"

While this was happening, Charles and Aurélia were in front of the door of a Hotel's room. "You still can go away," Grayman said. "No, I want to stay," Auri replied. A woman opened the door and smiled when she saw Charles. Auri went pale.

"You're Felicity Faraday! Charlie's mother!" She almost yelled in shock. "My grandfather had showed me a photo of yours some time ago."

"Your grandfather?" Felicity asked confused. Grayman explained, "She's the granddaughter of Albert Schultz."

Felicity gave Auri a surprised look then invited them both to enter. Auri tried to make Charles tell her how he had met his mother again, but he just sat on a chair and stayed in silence. The woman and the girl also sat. Grayman began to talk to Felicity.

"Do you remember when you told me about my father and the woman he loved?"

"Of course I remember," Felicity replied, without getting his point. Auri was trying to understand the situation. Grayman took a breath and asked:

"Was this woman Catherine Renoir?"

Felicity went pale. Auri couldn't hide her surprise. After a few seconds, Charlie's mother spoke again.

"How did you find this out?"

"It's just a theory. When that incident happened, some condensed energy and information appeared. This thing split in two parts. One stayed inside a boy's body and was shaped by this boy's personality. The other part had influence of the mind of one of the scientists in that laboratory and went to some other dimension. I should have figured this out a long time ago. Catherine Renoir was pregnant at that time. Since the Heart is inside her son, who had been inside her body, it was obvious she was the one who influenced that creature's mind."

"You're right!" Auri said, suddenly, "That's why that man had the appearance of Shunsui Yukimura and he treated her master by calling her 'sweetheart.' Everything makes sense now."

"I don't understand, can you explain what are you talking about?" Felicity questioned.

"I will, but first can you give me more information?" Grayman asked.

The woman replied without enthusiasm, "Yes, I think so."

"Tell me about the group of children you were part. The names and description of those kids."

Auri was staring at Charles with wide eyes. Felicity took a deep breath and began to relate:

"Besides me and Catherine, there were more four people. Friedrich was a young boy who loved to make up dramatic and sad stories and explore the feelings and thoughts of the characters. He used to say he'd become a great writer someday. He was adopted by an actress and a theater director. Cosette was the oldest of the group. She liked to order us around and was a bit arrogant. She went to another orphanage when she was fourteen. Klaus was the youngest and sweetest. He was very smart and trustful. He was adopted by a professor. Jo... I've already talked too much about him."

"Charlie," Auri called the boy, "Is it just me or these people she talked about remind Traum, Friede and Weisheit?"

Felicity was in shock when she heard those names. Charles and Auri noticed it.

"How can you know about these nicknames?" Felicity asked.

"What do you mean?" Charles questioned.

"Catherine had made up a tale when we were young. The tale of the six gods. She gave for each of us a name and an ability. Klaus was Weisheit, the sixth, he had in the tale special eyes able to see the truth. Cosette was Friede, the fifth, who tried to avoid combat and unnecessary deaths. Friedrich was Traum, the fourth, he had power over people's minds. Jo was Glaube, the third, the most loyal of the group and the one who had an amazing destructive power. I was Leben, the second, I had the ability over life and death and to heal. Catherine was the first."

"So she took the name Unschuld for her?" Charles asked.

"No," Felicity answered, "I gave that name to her, because she had a pure heart and cared about her family more than anything. And she had the power to make dreams become true."

At the garden where Unschuld, Izzy and Achtundzwanzig were, Izzy was feeling tired and sleepy; it was hard for the boy to keep his eyes opened. _What is wrong with me? Heart, where are you?_

The Heart was lying on the ground, in Izzy's inner world, unable to move. The cloudy sky was still visible outside_. I can't move... her mere presence is too much for me. It's all over._ Achtundzwanzig took Izzy in his arms gently. Unschuld made a bright golden circle appear over the ground, filled with binary codes, and asked Achtundzwanzig to put Izzy at the center of it. Izzy was placed there, but he felt nothing. It was comfortable, somehow. Unschuld touched the circle and the binary codes moved toward Izzy and tied him up. Izzy suddenly understood why he was feeling so sleepy.

"You're stealing my energy, aren't you?" He asked.

"I'll just take the Heart out of your body now. You're feeling tired because of my presence."

_Her presence... how can she be so strong?_

"I'm going to die?" Izzy questioned in a very weak voice. Unschuld didn't reply right away. Then, she answered a dry "yes."

The codes glowed with more intensity. Izzy blacked out. He was going to die, but he wasn't afraid. He wasn't in pain. _Dying is like going to sleep? It's not so bad. Was it like this for my family and friends?... Everybody died. I remember an explosion... Tai lying on a puddle of blood... my parents and Sabine must have been smashed by the falling buildings. Did they feel pain? They must have felt it. Are they in relief now? Am I going to meet them somewhere? Is there Heaven...?_

Unschuld was admiring Izzy's sleeping face. Suddenly, some images began to appear in her mind.

She saw herself... no, it wasn't her... she saw Catherine Renoir at age five. She was hugging her knees and crying while a police officer tried to talk to her.

"Frau Renoir, I'm deeply sorry."

"Where are my mom and dad?" The little girl asked among sobs.

"I'm sorry. A thief broke into your parents's store. They were shot and died."

Unschuld put her hands on her head. Achtundzwanzig was worried about her. The images didn't stop coming. She saw Catherine entering a room of a house with a woman. There were some kids in the room.

"This is Catherine Renoir," the woman said, "She's going to live in the orphanage from now on, so treat her well."

A dark-haired boy approached her, being followed by a girl at the same age.

He greeted her nicely, "I'm Joseph Weiss, nice to meet you." The girl at his side studied her for a while and introduced herself, "I'm Felicity Faraday. Nice to meet you."

_Stop it! STOP IT!_ Unschuld couldn't stand those memories. Then she saw Catherine in front of those two asking, "Please, come with me to the institution."

"Why?" Felicity asked.

Catherine answered, almost in tears, "I don't want to be separated from you. The others already left. You're my only family now." Joseph smiled at her and said, "For you, I'd go to anywhere."

Felicity watched the scene with some distance. She never said she would go, but she went anyway.

In another memory, Catherine was already an adult and went to meet the team that she would work with in the Multiverse experiment. There was a Japanese mathematician there that caught her attention.

"I'm Shunsui Yukimura, Dr. Renoir. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Equally" Catherine felt her breath go away. That man had something that amazed her.

_STOP IT!_ Unschuld was becoming desperate. The memories continued.

In a private place, she and Shunsui were talking when he pulled a box from his pocket. He opened it and Catherine saw a beautiful silver ring.

"Catherine, we're going out for a while, but..." his shyness obliged him to make pauses, "you're the most wonderful person I ever knew. When I'm with you I feel I'm in Heaven. I just... I just wanted to say I love you... I love you with all my heart."

Catherine stared at him. Shunsui was with a face almost as red as her hair. She smiled to him and said:

"You make me very happy. Since the first time I saw you, I felt the ground vanishing under my feet and the air leaving my lungs. With time, I realized how wonderful you were... and I fell in love with you."

"So, would you accept me as your husband?" He asked shyly. Catherine hugged him and said, "I would be immensely happy."

They kissed. _Shunsui and I will begin a family_.

In another memory, the couple were in a doctor's office. Dr. Weiss appeared with a sad face that he tried his best to hide.

"Something wrong, Joseph?" Catherine asked.

"No... nothing wrong. You're pregnant."

Catherine and Shunsui couldn't be happier. _Pregnant! I'm going to be a mother!_

After that, Unschuld saw Catherine lying on a hospital's bed with Shunsui by her side.

"What happened?" She asked when she woke up.

"An incident during the experiment. I was told you were having the baby." Shunsui informed her with a concerned face.

"Did something happen to him? Where's my son?" Catherine was asking worriedly.

"He was taken to do some examinations, the doctors said..." Shunsui was explaining when a nurse entered the room with a red-haired baby in her arms. She gave him to Catherine and said, "He's all right. You can have him now. Nothing to worry about."

Catherine sighed in relief. _Koushiro! Little Koushiro! My beloved son._

Unschuld opened her eyes and realized she was lying on the grass. Achtundzwanzig was by her side with a worried face.

"Are you all right, sweetheart?"

"I'm fine," Unschuld replied, trembling a little. The man looked at her with concern.

"If this hurts you, you should stop."

Unschuld gave him a severe look.

"If I retreat now, I'd be losing to that woman's will."

The man stared at her with sorrow. Unschuld added, "Since I can remember, I'm fighting her. Her memories, her thoughts, and her emotions invaded my mind all the time. It was hard. I didn't know who I was. Without realizing, without even knowing her existence, I desired everything she desired. I created a family for me, but it wasn't enough. When I finally understood what I was and who she was... I just had to make her disappear... to make all the humans who caused me so much pain disappear. I ordered their deaths, but every time one of them was killed that woman suffered so much... and her misery was transferred to me. She dissuaded me from destroying all the humans. She was taking things from me little by little... I realized I could only break free if I killed that woman and had my heart back. But I wasn't able to deal with anyone else's death... especially _his_ death."

Achtundzwanzig frowned when she said that. Unschuld continued:

"I thought I would die of pain after he died. I couldn't forgive Glaube for that. I couldn't even take Koushiro. Every single day during fourteen years I wanted to take him, but I couldn't because, even after death, that woman's will was stronger than mine. I lost all the time until now. That's why I can't retreat. This time is my last chance to take my heart back and break free of the misery forever."

Suddenly, a green line was seen attached to Izzy's little finger. He had been pulled out of the circle by a woman standing next to a tree. The woman was giving him some energy through her hand.

"Leben!" Unschuld called her with anger, "What do you think you're doing?"

"What's going on?" Koushiro had suddenly recovered and awakened. He saw Leben next to him and found her face familiar. Leben looked at him with serious eyes, made a movement with her hand and made Izzy disappear.

Leben said, "I sent him to the palace. Weisheit can take care of the rest."

Unschuld stood up and gave her an intense look. Leben sustained it and added, "So that's how your face is?"

"By being able to stand up and breathe here, I assume you're spending too much energy. But by doing this, your body will suffer serious consequences." Unschuld observed.

"I don't care" Leben said with a big and enigmatic smile, "I have no intention of returning."

"What's your objective, Leben?" Unschuld questioned.

"My objective is pretty simple. I want to bring a goddess down." Leben answered with a serene smile.

"Achtundzwanzig," Unschuld called the man, "bring Koushiro back no matter what it takes."

"Yes," Achtundzwanzig answered. He became white light and vanished. Leben didn't notice him. Instead, she looked at Unsculd and questioned, "Shall we begin, sister?"

Koushiro found himself standing in a room, next to a tissue cylinder. _What happened to me?_ He saw Weisheit entering the room. The digimon gave Izzy a shocked look.

"Koushiro? How can you be here?"

"Leben pulled me with a line," Izzy replied, surprised and relieved, "Weisheit, I didn't know you had survived!"

Weisheit was still looking at the boy, astonished.

"We should hurry, Sabine is waiting for us in the underground. If I'm not mistaken, there was a second entrance to that place through a door in the main hall. I'll explain everything later."

_Sabine survived too?_ Izzy felt happiness in his heart. Suddenly, a white light appeared from nowhere. Weisheit just had enough time to yell, "KOUSHIRO, RUN!"

Koushiro obeyed, believing Weisheit was coming after him. But when the boy turned around, he realized Weisheit hadn't moved from that spot. He was standing in front of the man called Achtundzwanzig.

"KOUSHIRO, DON'T YOU DARE STOP! I TOLD YOU TO RUN!" Weisheit yelled with ferocity. Izzy, against his will, obeyed.

"Weisheit, I'll wait for you there!" Izzy told him before leaving. Weisheit didn't say anything. Achtundzwanzig tried to become light, but Weishet put his sword in the ground and activated a code that made the man unable to transform.

Weisheit explained the situation with a smile, "It's just a thing I developed to neutralize Unschuld's power, at least a little. Fortunately, it seems you have the same kind of power."

Achtundzwanzig gave him an angry look.

"Out of my way, Weisheit! I'm going to take Koushiro back to her."

"You'll have to kill me first!" Weisheit stated, taking the sword and pointing it to the man in his front.

Meanwhile, Glaube was in front of a closed door that he was forbidden to enter. It had been used as a second entrance for the underground dungeon for many years, but it was sealed suddenly one day six years before_. I don't want to be in the darkness anymore. I need to know the truth._ He banged on the door with his spear.

Sabine was staring at her father who was talking to himself.

"I'm in Hell. I'm really in Hell. Because I did bad things."

"What bad things are you talking about?" Sabine asked seriously. Joseph turned his voice lower before answering:

"Because I provoked the incident during the experiment to prove the Theory of the Multiverse. I had sabotaged the computers."

Sabine's eyes became wide. Joseph continued:

"I just wanted to ruin that experiment. To ruin everything_._ I didn't know people were going to die."

Joseph took a breath and began relating:

"I loved her since the beginning. She was fantastic. I realized that at the moment I saw her. My heart was beating so fast when I went to talk to her. Soon we got close. We and other kids. Catherine told us we were her family. I thought, at that time, it was a thing that I could change in the future. When Catherine was called to the institution, she asked me and Felicity to go with her. I did everything for her. I would die for her. When she told Felicity and me that she was going to marry that mathematician..."

**Flash-back**

"He proposed me! Shunsui proposed me and I accepted!" Catherine, with a big smile, was telling Felicity and Joseph at a cafeteria in the institution. The other woman seemed happy. The man felt the ground opening before his feet. However, he forced a smile to her and said:

"That's great! I hope you will be happy! Oh..." he pretended to remember something, "Can you excuse me for a second, I have to see a patient before it becomes too late. I'm really sorry."

"OK, don't worry about it!" Catherine said. Joseph left the cafeteria. He walked straight ahead without looking to anywhere. He stopped walking when he reached the entrance of the building where he lived. He fell to his knees and began to sob. A hand touched his shoulder, gently.

"Jo..." Felicity called him with a worried voice, "do you want to go to my place and talk?"

"Why would I want to talk to you about anything?"

"I know how you feel about Catherine. I have some drinks, if you find it necessary."

Joseph ended up agreeing. He drank more than he had ever drunk in his life. The next morning, he woke up next to Felicity.

"What the Hell happened?" He asked, confused. Then, when he saw the empty bottles, he understood everything, "Oh, God! What have I done?"

"Jo, you're awoken..." Felicity said kindly. Joseph gave her a disgusted look. He started to dress up quickly. Felicity didn't want him to leave.

"Jo, please stay!"

"What we did was a mistake. It must be forgotten!"

"I don't want to forget it! I knew what I was doing!"

Joseph glanced at her, surprised. Felicity began to cry.

"Jo, Catherine is going to marry Shunsui. You should accept the facts. She only sees you as a brother, she'll never love you, not the same way I love you... the way I always loved you! I love you so much... Please, stay with me. I promise I'll make you happy. Forget about Catherine and stay with me."

"Even if Catherine doesn't love me, I would never be with you."

"Why?" Felicity asked in despair. Joseph opened the door and was about to leave the apartment, she screamed "ANSWER ME!"

"Catherine is like a goddess. Compared to her, you're nothing more than a stray dog. I prefer to follow a goddess forever without being recognized than staying back with someone like you to substitute her."

**End of flash-back**

"Some time later, Catherine looked for me because Felicity had left the institution with stolen money."

**Flash-back**

"Why did she leave without telling us? Why did she do that?" Catherine asked worried. Joseph just stared at her. She had visited him in his apartment.

"I don't know, Catherine. I haven't talked to her in a while." He said without looking at her. Catherine was serious.

"Joseph, did you do something to her?"

"What do you mean?"

"I know she came to this place just because of you. For her to leave, you must have done something horrible."

Joseph turned to see Catherine. He had gotten mad.

"I have nothing to do with her! She was just a girl I met at the orphanage, nothing more than that! I'm not responsible for what she does!"

"Even if she loved you?" Catherine asked, making Joseph frown. After that, she added:

"It was obvious what she felt for you. I didn't want to hurt her, so I never dared to see you in a different way."

The man was shocked when he heard that.

"You're saying... if it wasn't for her... we could have stayed together?"

Catherine looked at him in a sad way.

"You were a very kind young boy and I liked you very much when I met you. It wouldn't be hard to fall in love with you."

Joseph was almost in tears, but anger was growing inside him.

"Why haven't you ever told me this? I always have been in love with you. Since the beginning until now!"

"I know. I always knew" Catherine said seriously. That made Joseph even angrier.

"You knew...? YOU KNEW? SO WHY? WHY...?"

"Because I wanted to protect my family." Catherine said. Joseph couldn't hear anymore.

"Catherine, please... leave me alone."

**End of flash-back**

"I tried to forget her. I started seeing your mother. I can't say I was interested about her, but I let things follow their course... she said she wanted to marry me and I accepted without thinking. She said she was pregnant and I didn't react. I never loved her or you, I just let the things be. Catherine probably thought I had forgiven her... but I was still angry. And I began to imagine how I could reach her and that man. So I sabotaged the computers of their laboratory. I had a pretty good knowledge about computers. When those people began to die... when your mother got sick... I didn't care at all. The only thing I was worried was Catherine. When she died, I wanted to die too. And then, that 'Weisheit' appeared to me."

**Flash-back**

Someone knocked on Joseph's door one night. Sabine was crying in her crib. _That damn girl never stops crying? How annoying! _He opened the door and saw a man wearing a black coat, with a child in his arms and lines drawn on his face. He gave a weird look to Joseph, as if he had found something odd about his face, but he didn't do any commentary.

"You're Joseph, right? You're Catherine's friend?" The visitor asked. Joseph barely confirmed with his head. The other entered the room. "I'm Weisheit. Something terrible has happened to Catherine and Shunsui!"

"What?"

"They were killed some minutes ago... I couldn't save them." Weisheit said that with sorrow, "I just managed to save their son, Koushiro."

In shock, Joseph fell on the couch. Catherine was dead. CATHERINE WAS DEAD! He couldn't handle that. Weisheit, apparently, hadn't noticed it and continued talking:

"My former master, a strong digimon, had ordered their deaths... something about punishing humans who tried to enter Digital World. The scientists who died, including Catherine and Shunsui, tried to open a gate to Digital World, am I right?"

Joseph went pale. He had been told about the objective of the experiment by his wife, Felicity and Catherine. The experiment he sabotaged! It had been because of him! Catherine had died because of him! The man began to cry. Weisheit didn't know how to react.

"I'm really sorry for your loss. But could you take care of Koushiro?"

Joseph stared at him with surprise. Weisheit continued:

"He's being chased by dangerous individuals from the world I came. I don't know for sure how you opened a gate to Digital World, but I assume it's closed now. So he's going to be OK. Please, take care of him."

**End of flash-back**

"After that, that Japanese couple took Catherine's child away. I found time to do some research about the incident and sneak into that laboratory. One day, six years ago, I finally managed to turn the machines on. A light appeared and, when I realized I was standing before a tissue cylinder... and I heard her voice."

**Flash-back**

"Who are you?" Unschuld asked the man who had suddenly appeared. He seemed to be amazed.

"Catherine? Is it you?" He questioned. Unschuld didn't like the mention of that name.

"From where did you come?"

"From the institution. It's me! Joseph! I didn't think I would find you... I was trying to find the monsters that killed you. Does it mean I died? Is this Heaven?"

"Stop saying nonsense!" Unschuld was getting angry. Memories were appearing in her mind.

"Catherine, I'm sorry for what I did. I sabotaged the computers and the incident happened... I was so angry... I'm really sorry!"

"You... caused this? You're the cause of this all?" Unschuld spoke with shock and hatred.

**End of Flash-back.**

"She turned me into this and I stayed here all this time, alone. I don't eat, drink or sleep. There's no way Catherine would do this to me... This must be Hell. Now even you, you damn girl, showed up here! What happened to you? You killed yourself like your insane mother?"

"DON'T YOU DARE TALK ABOUT MY MOTHER!" Sabine roared, disgusted, "What do you think she was? What do you think I am? You never gave a damn about it?"

"Maria and you were nothing to me. You never meant anything. Catherine was the only thing that mattered in my life."

Suddenly, steps were coming from the end of the hall, where the door that used to be close stayed. A few time later, Glaube had reached the place Sabine and her father were. He didn't expect to see the girl there.

"Glaube!" She exclaimed in surprise. Joseph began to laugh. Glaube turned to him and lost his voice when he saw that that man, despite the color of the hair and the eyes, was identical to him.

"Glaube, huh?" Joseph mocked, "what kind of joke the devil is making? You're me? Or, maybe, my substitute?"

**Next chapter, fights, emotion and Achtundzwanzing's history finally revealed.**


	24. The substitute

**Chapter 24: The substitute**

Unschuld studied Leben with interest. Her little sister had a serene, but determined, face. Leben opened her hands; hundreds of green lines appeared attached at her fingers. The lines were floating in the air and didn't seem to be connected to anything at all. The lady of life made a movement pulling the lines. From them, tons of giant and disfigured monsters materialized and headed for Unschuld.

"As you must remember, Unschuld, I can invoke anything alive to fight for me. No matter in which universe they are, I have an infinite supply of soldiers with killer instinct."

The creatures ran towards Unschuld, preparing to bite and tear her, but they turned into ash when they got too near their target.

"Such a silly attack," Unschuld commented, staring at Leben with penetrating eyes, "What's the point of summoning these creatures if I can deny their existence?"

She suddenly felt an ivy with thorns wrap around her legs. The thorns were tearing her skin. Unschuld made the plant disappear. Leben smiled widely.

"You fool! Those monsters were meant to deceive you, so you wouldn't notice the ivy! The poison that plant had was the strongest I knew and it destroys your body from inside out in a few seconds!"

"That's it?" Unschuld asked with some indifference, "All what you wanted was to destroy this body? You should have said it earlier."

Unschuld's body exploded in infinite light particles, making Leben's face become whiter than paper. _Did she just kill herself?_ However, Leben felt someone standing behind her. She turned around and saw Unschuld there.

"You can do whatever you want, Leben. It will always be useless. We can play until you get tired or you can stop this foolishness right now."

"How... how...?" Leben couldn't formulate the question properly. Unschuld gave her a soft smile and said:

"You have power over Life and Death. There's no creature, dead or alive, that can disobey your desires. The reason why you cannot kill me is because it's not possible for me to die."

"You're immortal?"

"I'm not immortal," Unschuld stated, "I'm not alive. I'm not dead either. I simply exist. Stop this already."

Leben stared at her with hate. "I rather die than surrender to you!"

Unschuld was disappointed_. It seems everyone in my family is stupid_.

In the interim, Weisheit was still holding the sword and staring at the man in front of him_. The resemblance is too scary. If I didn't know this man is a fake... why would she do such a thing? Maybe the resemblance between Glaube and Joseph Weiss wasn't a coincidence, after all._

"Weisheit!" Achtundzwanzig called him, "How much do you know about Innocence's powers?"

Weisheit didn't answer. _Even his polite way of talking, his calm and patience... he really is just like Shunsui!_

"I know how the digivices work and about the World of Dreams. I deduced she had power over reality. She can create things and even deny events with her pure will."

"Wow, you really are intelligent! Her power is pretty much what you said. Her emotions and imagination can alter any reality. It's a pretty amazing power."

Achtundzwanzig looked down for a few seconds, then he looked up and gave Weisheit a large smile.

"There's no way you can defeat her or defeat me, so why don't you just get out of the way?"

Weisheit studied Achtundzwanzig. After that, he smiled in a sarcastic way.

"I have to admit that you are a pretty good imitation."

"A pretty good imitation, you say?" Achtundzwanzig said in an enigmatic tone, "You really don't understand what I am."

"What do you mean?"

"I wouldn't call myself 'imitation.'But it's true that I'm not him. At least, not anymore."

Weisheit's eyes widened. Achtundzwanzig looked at the other with serious eyes and continued talking, "You said you knew about the World of Dreams, right? Then, you know Digital World is connected to it. Since Innocence sweetheart is the central code, she has access to that multiverse."

"So what?" Weisheit asked anxious.

"Each person has an inner world that is part of the World of Dreams. When a person dies, however, the correspondent inner world doesn't disappear right away. It erodes slowly and the time it takes to vanish is variable."

"You're saying that a person's inner world can last longer than the person's life?" Weisheit asked, without wanting to believe in that, "What does this have to do with you?"

Achtundzwanzig stared the void for a while, as if he was reluctant to answer. But he decided to go on, "When Shunsui Yukimura died, she almost went insane. The pain was too much for her. She came to the conclusion that she needed to bring him back. She didn't want to do that, but her despair was greater."

"Why would she suffer because of Shunsui?"

"That's right, you don't know." A light surprise look crossed the man's face, "When the incident happened, the mind of the human called Catherine Renoir gave shape to the conscience of Innocence."

Weisheit never had been so surprised and astonished in his life. _Unschuld is based after Catherine? This has to be a joke!_

The other man was contemplating the shocked face Weisheit had with some interest. After recovering, Weisheit questioned, "How can Unschuld be based on Catherine? Unschuld is cruel and selfish, Catherine was good and gentle. It's not possible."

"You haven't spent too much time with Catherine to understand properly her personality. Also, you don't understand Innocence at all. You have no idea how deeply she's hurt."

"Don't make me laugh!" Weisheit roared, "A demon like her? Hurt? I will not hear this nonsense anymore!"

Weisheit ran to the man, holding the sword. _I just need to find his core and stab it_. But when he activated his eyes and looked inside the other, Weisheit only saw a blinding light. He closed his eyes immediately and fell to the ground, screaming in pain.

"My eyes... what have you done?"

"I did nothing to you, Weisheit. You're like that because you underestimated me."

Weisheit still couldn't open his eyes, they hurt a lot. _How did this happen? I just looked at him. _He heard the man approaching him.

"What are you made of? You're not like the rest of us." Weisheit questioned, trying to open his eyes. His vision was distorted and he couldn't identify anything.

"Of course I'm not like you or the other four," Achtundzwanzig confirmed, "I never said I was. You were created by Innocence's desires. She based you after some kids Catherine saw as a family, even without realizing it, but your structure is not too different from a Digimon's. I was created with a part of her body. A part weak enough to be able to come here without destabilizing this dimension, and strong enough to stay in her world with her."

Weisheit tried to stand up. "So she created you to substitute Shunsui? You're nothing more than a sophisticated imitation?"

Achtundzwanzig made a sad face. "It would have been a lot simpler if she had just created an artificial conscience for me. So I would just exist to love her and smile. Perhaps she wanted the real Shunsui, I will never know for sure. The reason why I feel the pain of Glaube's spear crossing my chest even if this body has never been damaged..." The man put his hand on his chest, "The reason why I hear Masami Izumi saying through telephone he wouldn't help Shunsui's family... _my_ family... _My_ parents had died in a fire when I was very young. I remember _my_ father waking me up... there was black smoke... he took _me_ outside and went back to _my_ mother... _I_ smelled gas... everything exploded... there was a man called Koushiro Izumi who treated _me_ well when_ I_ was a kid. He didn't want _me_ to leave for Germany. _I _didn't want to go either. That man wrote _me_ letters. When he died, _I_ cried so much, I remember that, even knowing these eyes never cried. And they never read those letters or visited that grave... Catherine comforted _me_, she wanted to go with _me_, but _I_ didn't let her go because of her pregnancy... no... that didn't happen to me either. It's hard to know what was my life and what was his life. His memories are very troublesome, I wish I didn't have them. But, at least, I'm able to understand what she feels. Innocence and I have the same pain and the same despair."

Weisheit heard those things, unable to understand. "How can you know about Shunsui's childhood? It was before Unschuld was born and even before Shunsui met Catherine."

"Those are my memories. The memories that existed in my inner world before I was created."

Weisheit finally comprehended. He clenched his fists in fury. _How could she do this to him?_ Achtundzwanzig nodded with the head. "Shunsui's inner world hadn't vanished yet. A part of him still existed. So she took that part and attached it to a body that she had made. That was the first me, Eins. But Shunsui's will was too strong, he didn't want to accept Innocence. He fought her and she had to destroy him and create a better one."

"A better one?" Weisheit asked disgusted and getting on his feet, his vision was still bad. "What is this supposed to mean?"

"She manipulated his conscience... my conscience... she wanted me not to be aggressive. I should be calm and gentle. Never accuse her of anything. Never blame her. I should smile always and love her unconditionally. However, Shunsui's will always showed up in some moment and she had to destroy me and create a better one. There were twenty-seven failures before this me."

Anger was growing in Weisheit's heart, while the man kept talking.

"Eins was pretty much Shunsui. I remember I tried to strangle Innocence. She destroyed me in less than one minute. Zwei lasted half day before trying to throw her off a precipice. The hatred was still very strong. Drei lasted one day. Vier two days. I don't really know how much time Funf, Sechs, Sieben, Acht and Neun took until calling her a murderer and fought her. Zehn, Elf, Zwolf and Dreizehn were really depressed with their situation and ended up committing suicide. Or should I say I killed myself four times? Vierzehn, Funfzehn, Sechzehn and Archtzehn lasted some months each. They refused to talk to her or look to her eyes. They did nothing besides stare at the void. I remember I couldn't see any reason in those lives. Neunzehn, Zwanzig, Einundzwanzig and Zweiundzwanzig lived for some years. They tried to accept that they weren't Shunsui, but that man's will made them yell at Innocence in some point. Dreiundzwanzig, Vierundzwanzig and Funfundzwanzig tried to completely abandon Shunsui's emotions and enjoy the life with Sweetheart. Unfortunately, the hatred took their hearts over eventually. Sechsundzwanzig let the despair take control of him. Siebenundzwanzig lasted more than the others, but she didn't like some things he had said. Every time I died, I took a while to recover all the memories. It was painful. I'm the most recent, Achtundzwanzig."

"You're 'Twenty-eight,' huh?" Weisheit said in a trembling low voice, "So it's just a matter of time until you lose against Shunsui's will?"

"This is not going to happen. My love towards Innocence is stronger than his hatred."

"Your... love? LOVE?" Weisheit laughed hard before starting to sob. His entire body was shaking. Then, he calmed himself and questioned:

"Sunshui's mind is seriously inside you?"

"Yes, but it's under my control."

"You are not Shunsui. He would never say this kind of crap! He loved Catherine and Koushiro. I refuse to believe he would betray them like this!"

"He didn't betray them. Right now, he – or really, his will - is screaming in my mind. His will, better saying. He wants to stop me from killing you and taking Koushiro. But it's useless. My will is stronger than his."

"Unschuld corrupted Shunsui's mind to this point. And his will... his soul..."

"There's no such thing as a soul. Shunsui died. His inner world, his will, they're nothing more than powerless reminiscences now. They're nothing."

Weisheit didn't speak for some seconds. He held his sword tightly and ran, full speed, at Achtundzwanzig, who dodged the attack.

"I had made a promise to Shunsui. But I failed at keeping it. For years I thought there was nothing I could do for him besides protecting Koushiro. But now I can see what else I can do." He turned to the figured he assumed was the other man, "I can free his conscience by killing you."

Weisheit gave uncountable attacks with the sword at Achtundzwanzig, who dodged them all. _I can't see his core, so I have no other choice than reaching him in all the spots of his body. If I could, at least, reach him..._

Achtundzwanzig managed to kick Weisheit's right hand, making him let go of the sword. Weisheit didn't have time to stop the man's right hand from covering his eyes.

"This is it, Weisheit!"

White. For Weisheit, everything had turned white. No forms or anything else existed, just the color white covering his entire vision camp. He was screaming in pain. The most horrible pain he felt in his entire life. It was as if his eyes were in fire. The other man let go of him and he fell. His vision had been taken away from him forever. He could hear steps on front of him. Achtundzwanzig was leaving the room.

_I lost my vision. The only power I had. I can't see him. I can't fight anymore. He's going to take Koushiro to Unschuld again. It's all over. _Tears fell from his blind eyes and Weisheit began to sob and punch the ground. "Damn it! DAMN IT! WHY? Why...?" _Isn't there anything I can do?_

Weisheit remembered, suddenly, something that one of his followers, at the time she was a Salamon, had told him: DON'T GIVE ME THIS EXCUSE, YOU COWARD! THERE'S ALWAYS SOMETHING YOU CAN DO! We fail all the time, but we refused to give up! If you are stubborn enough, if you try your hardest... you always can find something you can do... otherwise, we wouldn't have been able to save you.

After that, a memory of Shunsui appeared in his mind:

**Flash-back:**

"There are really strong enemies coming after us, aren't there?" Shunsui asked without looking to Weisheit. "I told comforting things to Catherine, but... I don't really believe I'm capable of protecting them. I'm afraid... I'm afraid of what may happen," he whispered.

"You don't believe in victory, but you'll not stop fighting to protect the people you love. You're very admirable," Weisheit told him.

"I'm not that! Please, don't tell Catherine I told you this. I don't want her to worry about me."

"OK," Weisheit said. When he was about to leave the kitchen, Shunsui called him again: "Can I ask you a favor?"

"Sure."

"If Catherine and I fail... can you protect Koushiro, please?" Shunsui had tears in his eyes. Weisheit wasn't sure about what he should answer.

"I promise I'll protect you all," Weisheit stated. Shunsui gave him a thankful smile.

**End of Flash-back**

Weisheit began to move his hands over the ground, trying to find his sword. When he found it, he spoke a certain code in his mind. _I still have that. _He put the sword in the ground and black letters appeared around it, covering the walls and the ceiling. They moved to where Achtundzwanzig was.

"What is he trying to do?" The man asked himself. His question was answered when the walls, the ceiling and the ground cracked and collapsed. Achtundzwanzig had to run back to the room where Weisheit was in order to avoid being buried. The passage had been completely blocked.

"This is troublesome, I have to admit." The man stated, turning around and seeing Weisheit standing up. "I need to finish you off quickly before I go after Koushiro. Innocence sweetheart will be sad because of your death, but there's no other choice."

Weisheit's black lines began to glow intensely. He put both hands on his chest. "I wanted to use this against Unschuld, but I never believed it would work, so it's okay to use on you, I guess."

"You're seriously going to use your best ability? Have you forgotten all your powers are based in your eyes? You are blind, it's useless!"

"Heilig Auge truly is my best ability. With it I'm able to find anything in anywhere. No matter how far it is or how well hidden it is. No matter even if my eyes work or not. I'm able to localize my target. I know where you are, now!"

Weisheit took the sword from the ground and ran to Achtundzwanzig. _What is Weisheit plotting? It's better to move!_ Achtundzwanzig thought, but his legs didn't obey him. It was as if a part of him didn't want to move from there. He was stuck and Weisheit was getting closer. _DAMN IT! _He turned his body into light and spread out. Weisheit was able to reach one little part of the light, before clashing against the blocks that had fallen from the walls and ceiling. The impact was great and Weisheit was thrown to the ground by it. Achtundzwanzig materialized behind him.

_What happened to my legs back there? They didn't want to obey me. Was it... Could it have been him?_

A huge pain was taking over Achtundzwanzig's body. Dark data was being absorbed by him. It didn't take too much time for him to realize the data was coming from Weisheit, whose body was fading away.

"What happened? What did you do, Weisheit?"

From the ground, Weisheit answered in a weak voice, "A long time ago, I learned how to manipulate my data. So I programed him to turn into a dangerous virus when I used Heilig Auge and infect my target. I could reach a part of you, now you're being poisoned by the data that is leaving my body. The virus is extremely lethal. It destroys completely anything infected by it... even your inner world."

Achtundzwanzig went pale when he heard that. Weisheit smiled and added, "At least I could save Shunsui in some way... and you can't go after Koushiro now... I did something right... in the end..."

Weisheit died and disappeared. The same thing was happening to Achtundzwanzig. _It seems... I can't be replaced anymore... It doesn't make me sad... I'm kind of relieved... _He fell, becoming light and vanishing. _You won in the end, didn't you... Shunsui? I ask myself if Catherine is able to win as well._

Meanwhile, Leben was on her knees, breathing with difficulty, surrounded by pieces of thousands of giant monsters and poisoned plants she had invoked from uncountable universes. Unschuld was still without any damage.

_I tried to suffocate her, poison her, smash her, get her killed by beasts and nothing? She didn't even need to dodge! What kind of creature is she?_

Unschuld had a distant and worried look. _I can't feel the presence of Achtundzwanzig or Weisheit. I don't believe this is actually happening._ She turned her face to Leben and decided to walk to where she was. She offered one hand to the other and smiled at her.

"That's enough, Leben. You can't keep fighting, it's pointless. You'll only get yourself killed."

Leben refused to hold Unschuld's hand. She stared at the other with contempt eyes.

"You really don't take me seriously, do you? You were just playing with me."

"I didn't want to hurt you, Leben. Give up now and I'll forgive you."

"Forgive me?" Leben mocked in an offended tone, "Am I really that pathetic that the person I intended to murder pities me?"

"Why do you want to fight me so hard? I always treated you well, never punished you even knowing you weren't loyal. If this is about Glaube...?"

"I'm not such a ridiculous woman to do all this for a man that I know doesn't love me!" Leben stated in fury, "I always knew you didn't like him like I did, but this just doesn't make any difference. He idolaters you and despises me independent of what you think."

"If this is not because of him, then why is it?"

Leben looked to Unschuld with sadness. "It was always like this. You were the goddess behind the tissue who looked at me from above. And I was the inferior mortal who tried to understand the reason why I was down there. Why were you better than me? Why were you so special and I wasn't? I just wanted to understand. But I realized you weren't special. You were unsure of yourself, contradictory, emotionally unstable. You were just as pathetic as anyone else. Why should I be devoted to someone like you? Because of your power? Because you can destroy me? This is so idiotic."

Leben's eyes were full of tears, but she had a furious expression. "WHAT'S THE MEANING OF MY LIFE? OF MY EXISTENCE? Is it to love someone who doesn't even respect me and hurts me so badly that I want to pull my heart out? Is it to follow and obey someone as pathetic as me or even more? To spend my time in a garden and plots things against you for years? And so, when the time comes, not be able to even scratch you and have you pitying me? Everything is so idiotic. I really can't reach you? Are you so out of my range, despite everything? Why can't I reach you?"

"It's pointless to try to kill me, Leben. This body you see is just a small part of me. I'm an entire subjective universe. You are powerful, but you can't destroy me. So let's stop with this foolishness, okay?" Unschuld proposed in a sweet tone. Leben couldn't hide her anger.

"You're a universe? An entire universe?" She was shaking while speaking, her green lines began to glow; that alarmed Unschuld.

"Leben, don't do this! In your state, you're going to die!"

"So maybe I really can't reach you and bring you down from sky. But I can't return now. It's all or nothing." Leben was saying with a smile, "Extinction!"

A gray fog came out of her and spread to everywhere. Every single plant, animal, bacteria and virus died instantaneously. Slowly, Leben was leaning forward, until she fell, unconscious. Some particles were fading away from her body. Unschuld was intact, next to her. Her face was full with sorrow and sadness. She put a hand over the dead grass and everything turned back to how it was before.

"A really formidable power, Leben." Unschuld said in a whisper, "nothing that lives is able to oppose you. Too bad you didn't understand what I was and what this world was until the end. I'm a natural exception to your overwhelming abilities. You used all your energy and the result was death. I could deny your death... but I think this would just hurt your heart more."

Unschuld looked to the sky. She felt something wet running through her face. _I sent Achtundzwanzig to the palace, that is in a dimension of Digital World. His body had been converted to data and Weisheit was able to destroy him. Weisheit died too. Why must everything have to be so difficult?_

Far from there, Glaube was staring at Joseph Weiss still in shock. _What's the meaning of this? Who the hell is this human? He said I was his substitute? This can't be! Lady Unschuld created me to serve her. I'm special... she told me I was special! Why does he look like me? Why is he here?_

Glaube was having trouble to breathe because of the anxiety and the doubts.

"I'm Glaube! I'm the third! Lady Unschuld created me to serve her. I don't exist to substitute a filthy human being like you!"

"Glaube, the third!" Joseph mocked, "I remember when Catherine made up that story. She had told me I would be the most loyal and have a great destructive power. I was Faith. A very interesting kid's tale, I have to admit."

The other was trembling. "What 'Catherine' are you talking about?"

"Catherine Renoir, of course! Don't play the dumb! She had made up the tale of the six gods. Each one of us was a god in her story. I was Faith, Felicity was Leben, Friedrich was Traum, Cosette was Friede and Klaus was Weisheit. Catherine had a great imagination, didn't she? She said we were her family and that she cared about us more than anything! I loved her so much, but that damn Shunsui took her from me!" Joseph was talking fiercely, without realizing how pale Glaube was turning. Sabine just watched the scene. She had no clue about what she should do in this situation. Glaube held his head with one hand, while he kept holding the spear with the other. His entire body was trembling.

"What's wrong?" Joseph asked in a taunting way, "Did I say something that bothered yo-"

He couldn't finish the sentence. Glaube had cut him, along with the wall, in two parts. Then, he kept attacking without mercy. Sabine was watching that with pure horror. She wanted to run, but her legs weren't obeying her. Glaube was destroying the entire hall with his spear. In seconds, there was no longer any sign that Joseph Weiss had been there. Pieces of the ceiling were cracking and falling while Glaube roared:

"DON'T LIE TO ME! I CAN'T FORGIVE A DESPICABLE HUMAN LIKE YOU SAYING THIS SORT OF ABSURDS THINGS! DIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEE!"

Sabine forced herself to try to get out of there, but, before she could do anything, Glaube looked at her with insane eyes. He pointed the spear at her.

"You too..." He spoke in a frightening tone, "I WILL DESTROY YOU TOO!"

"STOP IT!" A yell was heard at the limit of the hall. Sabine couldn't believe when she saw Izzy walking in her direction. He had invoked his black spear. Glaube turned to see the boy.

"Sabine!" Izzy called the girl, "Weisheit taught you how to draw a code to take us out of here, right?"

"Yes."

"Can you go to the point where you two arrived and prepare it? As soon as Weisheit gets here, we'll leave."

"What about you?" Sabine asked, worried. Izzy smiled at her and answered, "I'm going to defeat Glaube."

The girl felt as if cold water was filling her insides. What madness was this? How could Koushiro even think in such idea after all what had happened?

"I can't walk away and let you here!" She stated. Izzy looked at her in a way he never had before. _What is this look?_ Sabine questioned herself. _It's cold. Koushiro's eyes are not like that. What happened to him?_

"Leave, Sabine." Izzy ordered, "Don't interfere in this."

Sabine would never understand what made her obey. What made her leave Izzy there and go in search of the spot where Weisheit had left his sword. Maybe she just wanted to guarantee they would get out of that place quickly. She didn't want to leave Koushiro, a conflict was taking place in her heart, but, somehow, she felt... _or_ _knew... _she should go. Whatever Koushiro wanted to do, she had no right to stop it.

"Koushiro!" She called him, "Don't take too much time, otherwise I'll come back for you."

"Don't worry about it." He said in a dark tone. After Sabine had left, Glaube started to laugh.

"The one I wanted to kill the most came to me by his own will. This couldn't be more convenient."

Izzy didn't comment his speech. He put the extremity of the spear on the ground, making some black code spread all over the place.

"What are you plotting?" Glaube asked. Suddenly, tons of rock knives were thrown at him from the ground. They entered his body, making him suffer.

"What the hell! What have you just done with that spear? Is it one of Weisheit's tricks?"

"Don't talk." Izzy ordered. His voice was really frightening. "You stabbed my mother and Tai. Almost killed Sabine... my father... my friends... they're probably dead now. I don't want to hear your voice. You have no right to talk to me!"

Glaube was intrigued by the boy's attitude. "What are you going to do now? You want to die?"

"No. I have no intention in letting you kill me." Izzy held his spear fiercely. "You are the only one who's going to die. I sent her away because I didn't want Sabine to see what I'm going to do with you."

Izzy's voice was serious and firm. Anger was growing like flames inside Glaube. _What an arrogant brat! He will pay for this! He'll pay for everything_.

**Next chapter in August, sorry about it.**


	25. Goodbye, my love

Yeah, I ended up being able to write the chapter before August, so I posted it already. Please, review me.

**Chapter 25: Good-bye, my love.**

A little boy used to be alone, even if there were people around him. He felt he didn't belong to anywhere or anyone. He was lonely. What did his family mean to him, if it was not a real family? The life didn't seem real. Those faces of people who smiled at him. The praises he received from everybody. His parents always said he was a good son. The emptiness never disappeared, though. The smiles... were they all making fun of him? His so-called friends were like that too. Everything felt so distant and surrealist. It was sad, like living in a nightmare without ever been awaken. His eyes had been always closed; he had been always asleep. Until...

_"Why do you force smiles to people? You don't need to act as if everything is OK with you."_

The sun reached him. So sudden, so violent... he got scared. He hadn't realized yet how much he needed that sun.

_"I think we're similar, Sabine."_

The world wasn't so dark anymore.

_"It's true that Koushiro is coward when it comes to open up to people and that he fears to be left alone. It's true either that he hates himself and his life. But by hating himself it doesn't mean he hates people..."_

Things were clearer.

He loved those people. But they had been taken away. Even if he still had the sun, what there was left to see was just awful. He couldn't leave things that way and just go with her.

_My family. My friends. My home. They took everything from me. I can't forget what they did. I can't forgive._

He needed to erase that horrible feeling. He had to destroy...

Izzy attacked. He was fast enough to make a hole in Glaube's left arm with the spear and teleport before Glaube could reach him. _Does it hurt?_ He kept doing that over and over again. A hole in the enemy's right leg. _How does it feel, Glaube?_ Teleport. Stab his chest. _Does it feel like you're dying? Like the whole world is meaningless?_ Teleport. _Suffer! Suffer more! FEEL PAIN!_ Glaube was destroying the entire place by hitting it with the spear, unable to harm his target.

"STOP PLAYING AND SHOW YOURSELF!" Glaube roared, hitting the ground with the spear and making the entire palace tremble. _He's different from before. Colder. Is it because he's fighting without having to worry about others? Or maybe it's another thing. It doesn't matter. I won't lose to him. Not to him! Even if it kills me!_

**Flash-back**

A man with orange hair opened his eyes for the first time. A woman with green hair helped him to sit. She smiled at him softly. She didn't seem special at all. A light was seen inside a tissue cylinder in his front. It was so beautiful.

"Welcome to the world of the living, Glaube."

That was his name.

"You are the third. My most loyal soldier."

The goddess was talking to him. Her voice was like a miracle. The feeling he had couldn't be described in words. How could someone describe the contemplation of a perfect being?

"Fight for me and never doubt of me."

Just a heretical would go against a goddess.

"Trust me and obey me. I will always have you in my heart."

**End of flash-back**

_Always in her heart? The heart of the Digital World... was everything a lie? Am I a clown to entertain her? Why she never talked to me the way she talked about the Digital World's Heart?_

He felt as if a knife was tearing him into pieces. Izzy had stopped the attacks after Glaube had used the spear. It was necessary for the boy to think in a good plan. Glaube couldn't think of anything else besides Unschuld. Memories came like waves in the sea.

_ "Someone like you, Glaube, cannot understand. I don't seek power. I want the Heart because of a more important reason."_

_ She never shared anything with me. I never understood her. What was so wrong with me? Why couldn't she have me as something important? Has she ever felt something toward me?_

Far from there, Sabine went back to the spot where she had arrived with Weisheit earlier. The black sword that was supposed to be there had vanished. _It's not here. Why? Does it mean Weisheit...?_ The girl clenched her fists; she knew what that meant. She couldn't spend too much time thinking about it, though. She needed to go back and find Koushiro, not just to inform him about Weisheit, but also because she was worried.

_Koushiro was so different. He didn't seem himself. He wanted to stay there and fight. Do I have the right to interfere?_

The ceiling began falling apart. Large blocks plummeted. Sabine was able to dodge some of them, but she fell after trip over a piece of the ceiling. _I have to get out of here, or I'm going to be smashed!_

Back to Glaube, he was trembling in pure fury. _That child... she was always thinking about him. All that she did to my body was because of him._ _The precious heart she wanted so badly! Cursed child! I'll destroy him! He must die and pay for everythi_n_g! _Memories were passing through his mind.

**Flash-back**

"I'll give you a new body, Glaube."

"Can't you just restore my body?"

"No. The body I'll give you will be important for your next mission."

"I must go look for Wesiheit. He must die, that traitor..."

"Stop talking. Your mission has nothing to do with Weisheit."

**End of flash-back**

_This body of mine. That human child. What I've been through for fourteen years..._

**Flash-back**

"Glaube! Where have you been all these years?" Traum asked.

"What are you doing here?"

"Unschuld sent me here. The Heart appeared in this place."

"What?"

"I'll look for him. You must deceive the digidestineds while I do it."

"What do you mean? Capturing the Heart was my mission!"

"Sorry, Glaube. But you failed. Now it's my mission."

Glaube was furious. Traum seemed scared.

"Hey, take it easy. You still can beat Weisheit, right? But remember, you must pretend to be on the digidestineds' side."

_I want to kill them all. Why can't I? I've been locked up for so many years. Why did I wake up now?_

"Oh, there's a thing Unschuld told me to tell you," Traum suddenly remembered. "She said, 'You have an important mission. Everything has a meaning. Don't lose your faith in me.'"

**End of flash-back**

_All this really had a meaning? Or was is it just her way to punish me? That man..._

**Flash-back**

"Why did you kill him, Glaube?" Unschuld asked.

"He was a heretical human."

"I told you I didn't want the humans to die anymore. Just that woman should die."

"You're too innocent and confused. Soon you'll go back to your senses and realize..."

"Why did you kill Shunsui?" Unschuld's voice sounded sad. Glaube noticed that.

"Why do you care? HE WAS JUST A WORTHLESS HUMAN!"

**End of flash-back**

_All this time I was just deceiving myself. I never was special. I never was in her thoughts._

**Flash-back**

"She locked your mind for 14 years in this body. And you would have stayed like that if the incident in that mountain never had happened. But you woke up and found Weisheit. She had no choice but to send Traum there and make up some ridiculous excuse that only you would believe. She doesn't care about you, Glaube. She doesn't care about the Digital World or the human world. All she wants is what she never had the courage to pick up."

**End of flash-back**

Glaube couldn't take it anymore. The air was becoming hot. Fierce winds were forming around him. The lines over his body were shining. From where he was hidden, Izzy could see that. _What is he going to do?_

"Verurteilung." Glaube whispered. Far from there, on File Island, Leomon was walking when Orgemon attacked him in surprise.

"Again with this, Orgemon? You have been doing this since my rebirth!" Leomon scolded him.

"Stop winning, defeating you is my... what is that?" Orgemon was pointing to the sky. The other turned to that direction and saw a huge ball of fire increasing. Hot winds and detritus on fire were been thrown by it.

"RUN!" Leomon yelled, but there wasn't any place to run. The winds and the fire were destroying and melting everything in the Digital World. Even Gennai was trying to escape. _I don't have time to bring anyone with me, if I could open a gate to the human world..._ He was thinking while working in his submerse house. The water outside was evaporating and the residence was being taken by the flames. Gennai managed to open a gate and pass through it in the last second.

In Izzy's apartment, the digidestineds were in the living room, while Masami and Yoshie were in the kitchen. Nobody talked. The sound of a computer exploding was heard in Izzy's room and made them run to there. They became very disappointed when they saw who was lying in front of the destroyed computer, though.

"It's you, Gennai." Tai said almost in anger.

"What are you doing here? What's the meaning of this mess?" Tailmon asked. Gennai was astonished by such cold reception.

"Sorry for coming like this, but I had no choice. If I had waited more, I would be dead now."

"What do you mean?" Kari asked a bit worried "Some evil digimon attacked you?"

"I wish it had been like that. I can't really explain what happened, but the sky had been taken by an immense fire ball, and fierce winds, along with a rain of fire, was destroying the Digital World! I'm probably the only survivor."

The others couldn't accept such a thing.

"Digital World is destroyed?" TK was terrified, "How?"

Tai automatically ran outside. He, followed by the others, headed for the ceiling of the building, where Weisheit's followers were.

"Do you know anything about what happened in the Digi-" Tai began, but he stopped when he saw the three digimon crying. Persefonemon was punching the ceiling in despair, Ceresmon was sobbing with a pearl necklace on her hands. A lot of the pearls were gray. Chainmon was crying in a more controlled way.

"What happened to you?" Yoshie questioned, trying to not show the fear she had. Chainmon decided to explain.

"Some time ago, master Leben gave Ceresmon a pearl necklace. She instructed her to write the names of the people and digimon she knew on each pearl. While the pearls stayed white, it would mean the correspondent people or digimon were alive. However, if the pearls became gray..."

Chainmon didn't finish. Mrs. Izumi took the necklace from Ceresmon's hands and searched for a name. She dropped some tears in relief when she saw the pearl _Koushiro_ was still white.

"Koushiro is alive. Thank God!" she sobbed. The others seemed to cheer up. Gennai was trying his best to understand what was going on and who were those strange digimon. Masami was the person who realized why the three digimon were so sad, by analyzing the necklace.

"Weisheit's pearl..." he pointed to the gray pearl with the name _Weisheit_ written on it. The joy vanished from everybody just as quickly it had appeared.

"Weisheit... is dead?" Sora asked in a shaken way. Chainmon confirmed with the head and added.

"Master Leben also died."

Persefonemon punched the ceiling harder. "That stupid! Idiot! He knew he had no chance and even so..."

"Stop it, Persefonemon!" Chainmon scolded her, "I know how you feel, but don't say these things about him. He died like a hero."

"WHAT DIFFERENCE IT MAKES? HE DIED! HE'LL NEVER COME BACK! We sent him to death..." Persefonemon couldn't stand the pain. Everybody was sorry.

"But Weisheit defeated Lucemon. He was so strong, how could he...?" Cody was asking.

"He was the sixth in a group of six." Chainmon muttered.

"H-hold on a second." Yoshie managed to say, "Weisheit went to rescue Koushiro, if he died, how is my son going to return?"

"Perhaps Sabine brings him back. She's still alive too." Chainmon informed.

"Sabine?" Matt asked, "Sabine went with Weisheit?"

"WHAT?" Tai couldn't believe it, "Why that girl? He forbade us to go, but let her go?"

"Sabine had more chances than you, besides, she wouldn't just stay behind. It was impossible to dissuade her." Persefonemon said.

"Why?" Tai asked, "She barely knew Izzy! Why would she insist so much to go? And why would Weisheit let?"

Matt and Sora exchanged some looks. Masami and Yoshie did the same.

"It's a thing you only can understand..." Ceresmon spoke in a sad way, "when you have this feeling, this connexion with someone. A thing stronger than anything else. Master Leben had it until the very end... I hope she finally found her peace."

Meanwhile, Izzy was lying on a white structure. He opened his eyes and realized what had happened. The structure he was on seemed to be the skeleton of the palace. Better said, of what had been the palace. The only thing left behind was the structure floating in the sky, like a rib cage without meat. The rest of the place had vanished.

_Sabine! Weisheit! No!_ Izzy was about to cry. If he had finished Glaube off earlier, if he had stopped him before using that technique... _Koushiro, don't worry!_ The boy heard the Heart talking to him. _When I saw what Glaube was plotting, I took control of you and made a barrier strong enough to protect you and Sabine. I used the structure of the palace to conduce my energy._

"The structure?" Izzy questioned, taking a glance at the white building skeleton he was on.

"Yes." The Heart continued, "It's Unschuld's own power crystallized, a thing Glaube can't destroy. This palace was built to be indestructible and invisible to outsiders, by having a protective dimensional barrier around it. Unschuld probably never thought Glaube would do such a thing, so she never worried in making a stronger barrier. But the skeleton..."

"Wait, what about Weisheit? He's okay as well, right?"

The lack of an answer made Izzy realize what had happened. Several tears fell from his eyes. The Heart decided to speak again.

"There's no sign of Achtundzwanzig either. I assume Weisheit was able to kill him, but died in the process."

Izzy was suffering a lot_. Weisheit died to give me and Sabine a chance to escape_. _I'm the only one responsible for all of this._ His attention was caught by the strange behavior Glaube was having, some meters below. He seemed to be arguing to himself.

"He died. That brat burned to ashes."

"No! This can't be!"

"Shut up! You've lost! He died and there's nothing you can do about it!"

"I'll destroy you."

"I'm a lot stronger than you. You're nothing more than an insect!"

"DISAPPEAR! I'LL MAKE YOU LEAVE MY BODY, NOW!"

"Trust me, I'd be glad to leave this worthless body of yours. I'm ashamed of the time I spent in it and the things I was forced to tolerate. I don't see any reason for me to stay like this. This existence doesn't have any meaning anymore. After everything ends..."

Glaube suddenly noticed something in the distances. A girl was lying on a bar of the structure some meters ahead. When she woke up and took a glance at the place, the shock and the horror of what had happened filled her heart. _What place is this? It's floating in the sky, above the clouds. Is it the palace? What happened?_

When Sabine looked up groggily, she noticed there was someone coming. It was Glaube. She put her hand on the bar when he aimed at her with the spear.

"How can you be alive?" He questioned. "My attack destroyed the palace, the barrier around it and probably Digital World as well. How can you be alive?"

Izzy had followed him without being noticed and went pale when Glaube said that the Digital World had been destroyed.

"I have no idea." Sabine simply answered. Glaube didn't like her fearless tone of voice. He prepared to attack her, but a black fog came from the girl's hands and took the shape of an arrow and a bow.

"That's...?" Koushiro and Glaube were in disbelief. Sabine explained:

"Just a favor I asked Weisheit. He taught me how to use the black mithiryl." Sabine paused, pointed the arrow at Glaube, "So I could protect the most important thing to me."

_The most important thing... _the girl's words echoed in his mind. _She means that boy? She has come here... she's fighting me... all for that boy? Why is he so special? What does he have that I don't?_

She launched the arrow, but Glaube made a movement with the spear that made her lose her balance and fall, much to Izzy's fear. _She can't die. I can't let her die..._

"SABINE!"

Sabine had fallen few meters already when the boy used the bars to conduce his energy and make it envelope Sabine gently, preventing her from keep falling down to the void below. He placed Sabine on a bar near the point she was and teleported to there. Glaube didn't go down to their current location. Something was preventing him to do that. He was paralyzed, but it wasn't the same phenomenon that had happened the first time he had fought that boy, in Tokyo. What was stopping him? Why couldn't he take his eyes of those two young humans?

_He gave his location when he cried for her. I could easily have killed him... he must have realized it. But he went to her rescue despite it. Even now, he seems to be more worried about her than about the danger he put himself in. She's more important to him than his own life?_

"Are you all right? Are you hurt?" Izzy asked with pure concern. Sabine was just staring at him.

"You're alive..." She said in a weak and amazed voice that made Izzy feel guilty.

"I worried you, didn't I?" He asked. "I'm sorry."

Sabine gave him an understanding look. "I didn't have the chance to tell you a very important thing. After you were taken away, Unschuld denied the deaths of everybody. They're all fine."

Izzy's eyes got wide. _They're alive. They're all alive!_ Happiness and relief were filling him. He hugged Sabine tightly, as he never had hugged anyone before. "Thank you, Sabine. I'm glad you're okay too"_._ Izzy's hands were shaking a little. "I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have left you alone. Please, forgive me. Forgive me, Sabine."

"That's fine. It's good to hear your usual self talking again."

"Sabine..." Izzy let go of the hug in order to look into her eyes, "I'll make you a promise for an entire life. No matter what happens, I will never leave you again."

"That's something out of your control." Sabine said. Izzy gave her a soft smile before adding:

"You're probably right. In this case, even if something happens, I promise I will always go back to you."

Glaube was able to see them and hear what they were saying from where he was standing. Good ears and eyes were a common thing among the six, after all, even if Weisheit in particular had an ocular power a lot better than the others had. The effect of the words made Glaube shiver.

_What is that? What is there between those two? That human boy is acting totally different from before. What's the meaning of this?_

_You really don't understand, Glaube?_ The voice that bothered Glaube, the voice of that worm he despised so much, the original mind of that cursed body, was talking to him again.

_You again? Vanish!_

_I'm not going to vanish. And I'm not going to let you harm him anymore._

_What are you going to do? You're weak and pathetic, just like him._

_You're wrong. The only one pathetic and weak in this whole story, has always been you, Glaube. That's the reason, isn't it?_

_Reason?_

_The reason why, right now, you are so envious of what Izzy and Sabine have._

_What?_

_I may not know a lot about you, but you're so obvious with your feelings. All what you have desired... the only thing you have truly desired..._

_Stop it. STOP IT!_

_... was to be loved like that by the one you love._

_STOP TALKING!_

Glaube clenched his fists and looked at Koushiro and Sabine from that high place, with a hatred he never felt before. He jumped down in their direction, screaming.

"."

Izzy was able to stop his attack with his black spear. The sequence of hits Glaube was giving were becoming more aggressive and destructive. The onslaught of blows was making Izzy's spear crack. Unable to counterattack and deflect the other's attacks at the same time, Izzy asked a favor to Sabine.

"Sabine, I need you to fire your arrows at him! I can't contain his hits forever!"

"Okay!" Sabine did as he asked and Glaube was hit by her arrows in his arms and chest. However, the pain was unable to stop him. His lines began to glow again, intensively.

"KOUSHIRO! HE'S COMPLETELY OUT OF CONTROL!"

Izzy put his left hand on the structure, while keeping his right hand holding the black spear. _Heart, I need all your power. Protect Sabine._

Sabine put her weapon on the structure as well, in order to help in the defense.

"VERURTEILUNG!"

The attack was stopped by a white and black glowing barrier. _There's too much power focused at us, if he keeps it, we'll not be able to hold it up for long._ Izzy was worried, his spear was breaking apart and he could feel the energy flowing in his body. Even if the structure was helping in dispersing the tension, Izzy was still getting hurt. _Resist, I beg you, resist!_

All of a sudden, Glaube stopped. He walked away from there, with both hands on the head, as if he was in deep pain. Soon, he fell to his knees.

"What's happening to him?" Sabine asked, helping Izzy to stand up.

"I have no idea." Izzy answered. Glaube was trembling.

"I-Izzy." He called the boy. "You need to... absorb his code... while I can hold Glaube... AAAAHHHHH."

_This way of talking... _Izzy had a strange feeling.

"Koushiro, it's not Glaube who's talking. Do you know who is it?" Sabine asked. Izzy just walked to where the other was. Glaube kept talking.

"I'm sorry, Izzy. He's too strong, I can't hold him forever. Before, I didn't even realize he was in my body. I couldn't stop him from doing horrible things... I hurt a lot of people... Mrs. Izumi... Tai... even you. There's no excuse for my weakness... I couldn't protect you..."

"Why would you protect me?" Izzy questioned. His voice almost didn't come out. He had a horrible feeling.

"You're... my best friend... don't you remember the first time we saw each other in the Digital World? You were afraid... you thought you were alone there... so I told you... 'you're not alone. I'm here with you... I'll always be..'"

Izzy's eyes were getting wet. "Is it you, Tentomon?"

Sabine went pale, especially when she saw Glaube's head nodding. _So that's what happened! Unschuld had put Glaube's code in Tentomon's body! Tentomon probably never noticed his presence. With their codes fused, it was impossible, even for Weisheit, to see that Glaube was in Tentomon's body. And that's why Glaube showed up suddenly inside the barrier that time. He had been inside it all the time, but as Tentomon._

Koushiro was trembling in front of Glaube.

"How? How can this be?"

"I don't really know, Izzy. I think he was always with me. Sometimes I couldn't remember things I had done... like when I vanished from the mountain and reappeared in Tai's apartment... I just realized when he hurt you that time in Tokyo... I'm so sorry."

The digimon was crying and sobbing. Izzy didn't know what to do. It was clear that Tentomon was fighting Glaube to create an opportunity for their victory. But could he just sacrifice his friend like that?

"What happens to you if I absorb his code? Are you going to be all right? Or are you going to be absorbed as well?"

"You shouldn't care about me now. I'm begging you, Izzy. Do it, quickly... aaaaahhhhhh."

Izzy lifted his shaking left hand in his direction. _Tentomon... I... I can't do it..._

Sabine yelled in horror, Izzy felt something warm and wet coming from him. A terrible pain was felt too. He looked to his chest and saw Glaube's spear sticking out of it. The digimon took it out and threw Izzy in Sabine's direction.

"KOUSHIRO!" She screamed, leaning over him, trying to contain the bleeding with her bare hands.

"Run..." He asked her. Izzy's vision was turning black, but he could see Sabine's eyes full with water. _She's crying..._

Glaube approached them from behind. "I killed you the same way I killed your parents. It's kind of poetic, don't you think?"

He aimed the spear at Izzy and Sabine. "Are you sure you're going to stay in the way, girl?"

"I will not leave him." Sabine muttered, "I'll be with him... until the end..."

Glaube frowned, but then added "As you wish."

_Koushiro, before you, I was in a lifeless world. I felt like I was already dead. You showed me the opposite. I could feel the heat. I could see many different colors. Thanks to you, for the first time, living was not a burden to me... when I was with you... I felt happiness... you changed me and I'm glad... that's why I don't fear dying by your side... Danke, Koushiro... Ich liebe dich._

She was stabbed by the spear and fell upon the boy's body. With her last energy, she held his hand. The final thought of each one of them was the other. Glaube was staring at them. _It's all over now. I won. Why do I still feel this emptiness? Why do I still envy them?_

An immense pressure almost smashed Glaube. _This power? Could it be?_

"What have you done, Glaube?" A woman asked behind him.

Glaube used all his energy to turn to see her. He was not prepared to see that face, though.

"No. You're not Lady Unchuld! YOU'RE NOT HER! WHERE IS SHE? WHERE'S MY LADY UNSCHULD?

The woman sunk her hand into Glaube's chest and a digitama was pulled out. Tentomon's digitama. Glaube was disappearing. He looked at her with tears.

"That's why... all what you did..." He said. The comprehension he desired for so long had finally been reached. She loved that man... she wasn't that woman... she hated that woman... killing Catherine felt so wrong... her obsession with the kid... the man he had substituted... He didn't know what Unschuld was, but he got to know why she was like that. She wanted to have that woman's life. The goddess he loved wanted to be a simple human woman.

Unschuld was staring at him with contemning in her eyes. Glaube was fading away quickly. "I'm really pathetic, aren't I? I was wrong since the beginning... I'm sorry, Leben... I'm sorry... all what I did was for loving... a heretical human... Isn't it just stupid?"

She walked away from him, heading to Izzy and Sabine. Glaube spoke again.

"At least look at my eyes... while I'm vanishing." He said, turning to her. Unschuld stopped walking, but didn't turn around. "... my entire life was for you. All my thoughts and feelings were always about you. I'm begging you... please, look at my eyes. LOOK AT ME!"

"I won't turn around to see such a pathetic being dying. You killed the man I loved... you murdered my child... you are not worthy of my attention or pity."

He tried to grab her before vanishing, but it was too late. _I see. _He smiled while tears were falling and disappearing. _I'm really pathetic._ _Good-bye, my love_.

Unschuld didn't cry over Glaube, even after he vanished. She walked slowly in Koushiro's and Sabine's direction. _Soon, everything will end_.

Far from there, Yoshie was trembling uncontrolably. Masami held her and asked what was wrong. She merely pointed to the necklace. Izzy's pearl, along with Sabine's pearl, was turning gray quickly.

"No, this is not happening, no... my son... Koushiro..." she was muttering. The digidestineds were falling into despair as well.

"SEND US THERE!" Tai ordered to Weisheit's followers, "SEND US THERE NOW!"

"It's pointless, you don't have black mithiryl" Chainmon explained.

"We can't just sit here! TELL US WHAT TO DO!" Matt screamed.

"Someone explain to me what is going on." Gennai was confused, Tailmon approached him to explain the situation.

"THE PEARLS!" Masami yelled, pointing to Izzy's and Sabine's pearls. They were turning white again.

"What does this mean?" Sora asked. It was Persefonemon who answered.

"It must be Unschuld!"

While that was happening, Charles and Aurélia were heading back from Felicity's hotel.

"She's very nice. I'd like to go visit her again soon. It was odd that you didn't ask more about your father." Auri commented. Charles didn't say anything about it. A white light appeared in the sky and fell somewhere near they were.

"What is that?" Auri questioned. She and Charles ran toward the place and arrived in a park. A person they knew very well was sleeping on a bench next to an odd egg.

"Sabine?" Auri called the girl. Sabine didn't seem to have any injuries.

"Weird girl! Wake up! What on Earth happened?" Charles asked. Sabine opened her eyes, confused.

"Where am I?" She asked.

"In a park. What happened to you?" Auri was intrigued. Sabine didn't seem well. In fact, she was about to cry. _Where's Koushiro? What happened?_


	26. The other life

**Chapter 26: The other life**

The sun touched his face gently. The young man opened his eyes. The hotel room where he was in was very simple. There was a window and a desk next to his bed. He passed his right hand through his red messy hair and sat. He drank some water from a glass on the desk before standing up and heading for the window. He could see huge buildings outside. Big screens in the street showed texts in ideograms. He understood Japanese thanks to his father, but he hated to read ideograms. He lived in Europe, after all, and he spoke in English, German and even French where he lived. The boy examined the city a little longer. Even knowing that was the first time he visited Tokyo, he had the odd impression that he knew that place.

"Koushiro, come here! The breakfast is ready!" The young man heard his father calling him. He went to the Kitchen and saw his dad helping his mother to put the plates on the table. His father had prepared an omelet while the boy's mother made the coffee. They weren't exactly good cooks, but they always put their better efforts in it. And, for a physicist and a mathematician, their food was eatable, in Koushiro's opinion. When he tasted the omelet that really should had been taken away of the fire earlier, he imagined how would be if he had a mother who was a wonderful cook. He almost could see her in the kitchen, wearing an apron and smiling to him. He felt sadness invading his heart. He put his hand on his head when a strong headache made him release the chopstick that his dad had bought especially for their trip.

"Are you okay?" Shunsui Yukimura questioned his son, worried. Catherine Renoir seemed concerned as well, but not for the same reason.

"He's probably just tired because of the trip." She said seriously, making Shunsui look at her as if he wasn't recognizing his own wife. She had said that so coldly, she didn't sound like herself. Catherine noticed Shunsui's expression.

"Is there something wrong, dear?" The woman asked, trying to sound nicer.

"No, not at all, sweetheart," Shunsui replied, "I think we are all tired. Let's finish this quickly, soon we'll meet those kids."

"What kids?" Koushiro asked, for Shunsui's surprise.

"You don't remember? I've talked about it for months. We discovered that six Japanese kids visited the Digital World and had contact with genuine lifeforms from there. We contacted them after one of those beings tried to enter the Real World. It had sent a very frightening message through the internet. It was 'obey me or die, it's your choice,' or something like that."

"Incredible. What happened then?" The boy was curious.

"According to those kids, they were transformed into beings from the digital world and destroyed the creature. They used some kind of device to evolve, a digivice."

Koushiro paled a little, that word, digivice, sounded familiar, as if it was something really important. Images of monsters, a group of kids close to him, that the boy was sure he had never seen before, and a whole new world appeared in his mind. It hurt. His mother had a concerned expression. His father didn't realize what was happening and kept talking.

"Yeah, that's the word they used. Thanks to the frequency of those devices, we were able to find them. The kids were reluctant at the beginning, but they agreed to talk to us. We explained everything about our research."

"And the incident..." Koushiro spoke suddenly, without noticing.

"What incident?" Shunsui asked. Catherine seemed to be nervous. She was watching the scene silently. Koushiro looked at them confused.

"Sorry, I don't know why I said that. It just appeared in my mind."

"That's strange. We never had big problems. Well... we had the incident with Felicity, when she wanted to steal money from the project and run away..."

Catherine sent a reproving look to her husband. Shunsui quickly added:

"But she hadn't done it. Your mother dissuaded her in time. You see, Felicity was pretty sad and desperate, she wasn't a bad person. We didn't let anyone know about it. Everything ended well thanks to Catherine."

Koushiro was just staring at him. That story sounded strange, really strange, but he didn't know why. Someone knocked the door and the boy went to see who was there. A young and beautiful girl with brown skin and green eyes was standing outside, next to a skinny boy with black hair and blue eyes.

"You're still wearing pajamas?" The black-haired boy asked, "We were supposed to explore the city."

"You don't need to be so mean to Kou, Charlie!" The girl scolded him in a way that Koushiro found funny.

"Don't call me 'Charlie,' Aurélia! And you, Yukimura, go change! We'll wait for you."

"Okay!" Koushiro went to take a quick shower and put on other clothes. He knew Auri and Charles since forever. Auri's father, Karl, and Charles's mother, Felicity, worked with his parents. After 15 minutes, the three of them were leaving the apartment.

"I'll come back by the afternoon, okay?" Koushiro told his parents before getting out.

"Your mother and I will return by the night. I hope you like Tokyo, I spent part of my childhood here..."

"Shunsui, Koushiro doesn't need to hear your stories all the time, you talk too much." Catherine reprehended the man.

"That's true, sorry." Shunsui apologized a little embarrassed. Catherine smiled at him and gave him a soft kiss on the lips.

"That's fine, I love you the way you are." She said.

When Koushiro, Auri and Charles were at the street, the redhead was walking with his head down. Something didn't feel right.

"Ah, Kou, we forgot to tell you! Sabine went to the mall with her mother, so she will not come with us." Auri said suddenly.

"If I know my sister well, Sabine would prefer to spend her time reading books or doing stuff in a lab." Charles commented.

"Who wouldn't?" Auri asked joyfully. They noticed Koushiro had stopped walking, staying behind, looking at their backs with shocked eyes.

"Yukimura, aren't you coming?" Charles asked.

"Sabine... what did you call her?" Koushiro was talking slowly, as if the other boy had said some absurd.

"I called her 'my sister.' What the hell is wrong with you? You know the whole story, don't you?"

"Oh, right!" The redhead covered his eyes with his hand for some seconds, his headache had returned, "sorry, my memory is kind of weird today."

"He, I wish I had a memory issue, so I could forget that that worm of Joseph Weiss is my father." Charles said in an angry tone.

"You shouldn't talk about your father this way, Charlie. Family is family."

"It's easy for you, Aurélia! Your father is crazy about your mother, he even wanted to bring her to this trip!"

"That's true, too bad she had to work. But he calls her almost every time... Kou, are you really all right?"

Koushiro was still staring at them in disbelief.

"I'm okay, I'm just... this entire conversation of yours sounds so... it's as if this is not real." Koushiro was talking in low voice. _I know all about this. That my mother talked to Charles's mother in order to prevent her from running away after Felicity had her heart broken by Joseph Weiss. Well, today I found out she wanted to steal money too... I know that Joseph never cared about Charles or Felicity. He married another woman and had a daughter with her called Sabine, divorcing a few time later and leaving the institution... why do I feel this cannot be real?_

There was a convenience store near by, so Koushiro decided to enter it under the excuse of buying something his father had asked, which was a lie. He just wanted to organize his thoughts. Auri and Charles entered with him. Through their concerned faces, Koushiro thought they were thinking he was using drugs or something like that.

"Kou, is everything really okay with you?" Auri asked.

"Yes. Why are you calling me 'Kou' anyway?" Koushiro said while he was picking some rice up.

"What do you mean? I always called you 'Kou,' what other possible nickname can you have?"

"Maybe you should call him 'Yukimura,' like I do." Charles manifested his opinion.

"Nothing of this feels right." Koushiro whispered

"What do you mean?" Charles asked.

"I don't know, Grayman, it just..."

"Grayman? Why did you call me that?"

Koushiro looked at his friends in surprise. "What? I said 'Grayman?' From where did this name come?"

Auri was more concerned. Charles was intrigued. Koushiro didn't want to keep that conversation, so he went to the cashier with the rice. The cashier was a young girl with purple hair that looked familiar to Koushiro. She was talking on the cell phone and didn't seem to know the redhead.

"So, Kari," she kept saying, after attending Koushiro, "that cute guy, Ken, keeps coming here. I think he likes me. He's kind of shy and blushes every time he sees me. I think I like him too. You know what I mean. How are the things between you and TK? Nice! Don't worry about Davis, he'll meet some nice girl eventually. Cody? He's doing great, in fact I need to go fix his computer later. You're in a snack-bar with your brother and his friends? TK is there too? I wish I could be there. Okay, see you!"

The girl with purple hair noticed that the redhead was staring at her with wide eyes, scaring her a little.

"Is there something wrong?" She asked.

"I know you." Koushiro said.

"I don't think so. I would remember of you for sure." The girl said nicely. Koushiro was breathing fast. He knew that girl! Her name was Yolei! He felt he knew the people she had mentioned in the conversation. However, he didn't remember from where he knew them. And he had never visited Tokyo before, so it was impossible for him to know those people, wasn't it? He was anxious and ran from that store, leaving his friends and the rice behind.

"YUKIMURA! Where are you going?" Charles asked, but the boy didn't answer. He kept running. _What is wrong with me? _New images appeared. He was wearing a Japanese school uniform and was helping that girl and other people. They had small creatures as partners... he had one too... Tentomon. He protected him and, for a while, Koushiro had hidden the ladybug from his parents... they weren't his parents, though_. What are these images? Hallucinations? No, they are like memories... but from another life... this is absurd..._

Lost in thoughts, Koushiro hadn't noticed he was crossing a street until a car almost hit him. Luckily for the boy, it had stopped in time. A well-dressed woman got out of the car in a hurry.

"Oh, my! Boy, are you okay? You're not hurt, right? I'm so sorry."

Koushiro could see that beautiful woman's worried eyes. His head felt as if it was on fire. The boy was fainting. He woke up in a bed of an expensive hotel room. The boy heard the woman talking to someone on the phone in the living room and went there. From the hall, he could see her. She was walking nervously, still dressed in an elegant red dress.

"I don't think he's injured, he just passed out. No, the car didn't hit him. I brought him into my room, I couldn't just leave him there. I talk to you later."

The woman hung the phone up and sat in front of a piano that was in the living room. It didn't take too much time until she realized the boy was observing her from the hall.

"You woke up!" She said happy, "how do you feel?"

"Good."

Koushiro was looking at her in pure adoration. The woman was a bit uncomfortable with that behavior, so she decided to restart the conversation.

"I'm Yoshie Hitsugaya."

"I know who you are." Koushiro said in a whisper. He gave the woman an immense smile.

"Right, you must be a fan," she said embarrassed, "do you like piano?"

"What?" Koushiro wasn't understanding.

"The piano. I'm a pianist, a famous one."

"Oh," the boy understood, "ahm, yes. I'm your biggest fan."

"Everybody says that." Yoshie laughed, "what's your name?"

"Koushiro Yukimura." He informed. The woman seemed surprised.

"Are you son of Shunsui Yukimura?"

"Yes." Koushiro answered, noticing the sad expression Yoshie had.

"Your father was my childhood friend. In fact, I was married with his cousin, Masami Izumi. How is Shunsui doing?"

"He's doing fine. You said you were married?"

"Yes. Masami and I got divorced a year after I lost my baby." Yoshie sounded very unhappy, which broke Koushiro's heart. "Masami was so immature, he kept blaming your father for what had happened. I thought he could change, but I was wrong."

"So you didn't love him anymore?" The boy questioned, fearing the answer.

"Even now I still love him. I never married again and devoted my life to my work. The funny thing is that I wanted to be a piano teacher in the past, so I could always be with my family. A pianist travels a lot, you know? But it didn't make sense anymore. I was alone... I still am. I shouldn't be saying these bitter things to a young boy like you."

"It's fine. You don't need to worry about me." Koushiro was trying to hold the tears while memories of that woman showed up in his mind. The other life's memories.

"Miss Hitsugaya..." Koushiro spoke, "if you still love him, why don't you give him another chance? I'm sure he can change... and he loves you too."

"It's too late now."

"No! It's never too late! You can still be happy with him!"

"Masami died nine years ago, in a car accident... after our divorce he began to drink a lot..." she couldn't go on, it was still too painful. The boy was speechless.

_I don't know that man, I don't have any logical reason to be sad. It's just a crazy thing going on in my head, it will pass... I shouldn't be sad... it has no meaning for me. These images are hallucinations... they can't be real... that man and this woman are nothing to me... so, why does my heart feel like it's cracking?_

Koushiro didn't notice when he fell to his knees or when those several tears started to drop from his eyes. He didn't notice when the sobs didn't allow him to breathe properly and he almost suffocated. He didn't notice when the concerned woman shook him in order to help him to breathe. He didn't hear her questions and didn't realize her confusion. It was as if nothing else existed... just that horrible pain.

Despite his knowledge and logic, despite the fact he had never met that man and was son of Shunsui Yukimura, a single sentence kept repeating in his brain over and over again.

_My father died._

Koushiro stood up slowly. "I think I should go now."

"I'm sorry." Yoshie said as she saw the young man walking to the door.

"You didn't do anything wrong, don't worry about it..." Koushiro opened the door, "... I hope you can be happy."

"You're very sweet. If I had a son, I wish he were like you."

Koushiro left without looking at her again or saying something else. He walked for hours. The tears didn't stop dropping. He ended up finding a park. Images of a skinny man with purple eyes and lines drawn on his body passed through his mind. Sabine was there too, but she had dark rings under her eyes, a longer and messier hair and wasn't as well-dressed as the Sabine he knew used to be. However, the other Sabine was, somehow, more beautiful...

"Koushiro!" The boy heard someone calling him. He turned his head and saw Sabine and her mother, Maria, approaching him. Sabine was wearing a white dress that fitted her perfectly.

"Hi, Sabine." Koushiro greeted her, wiping the tears from his face. The girl noticed there was something wrong, so she asked her mother to stay with him for a while. Maria agreed and let the two of them alone. They sat on a bench.

"Is there something bothering you, Koushiro?"

Koushiro looked at her. She had a serene smile on the face and bright eyes. Then, he took a deep breath before talking again.

"Sabine, your mother really treats you well, doesn't she?"

"Ahn? Yes, she does treat me well. She loves me."

"And you love her too, right?"

"Of course."

"Sabine, you're a happy person, aren't you?"

The girl wasn't understanding why Koushiro was asking those things.

"Yes. Despite my father having abandoned my mom and me, I'd say I'm happy."

"I see." Koushiro simply said. He stayed silent for few seconds.

"Do you think people can have more than one life?" He asked suddenly.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean... a life in which everything seems to be good and another life in which something went wrong?"

"Like parallel universes?"

"Yes, something like that, Sabine."

Sabine thought for a while, then she answered, "yes, I believe."

"This may sound crazy, but I think I've been remembering things, but hings that I know I haven't lived. It's like I have memories from another life."

Sabine was hearing everything with attention, "how is this other life?"

"My parents died... I think they were killed... I was adopted by my father's cousin and his wife. I found out about my adoption by hearing a conversation and it made me isolate myself. I felt I had no value... no importance. I visited the digital world with other kids... my friends... there I fought alongside with a ladybug monster called Tentomon. He was my best friend. Some time later I began to be chased because of a heart... it was the heart of a woman who looked like my biological mother... I remember meeting you, Charles and Auri, but each one of us had sad pasts... it's still very confused."

"Interesting." Sabine sighed, "your life here seems to be better, doesn't it?"

"Yes, but..." Koushiro was with a very sad tone of voice.

"What?"

"I should love this place, shouldn't I? I have no trauma, good friends, a family that loves me. And I don't have to worry about someone trying to hurt me or someone I care about. It's wonderful and everybody is great... but..."

"This is not your place, right?"

Koushiro gave her a surprised look.

"Yes. It doesn't feel right. It's a good life, but it's not my life. I'm not this person. I'm not Koushiro Yukimura. I don't recognize me as him. I feel as if I'm stealing someone else's life."

"That's true." Sabine sounded a little upset, "you're not my Koushiro."

Koushiro blushed hard, "what do you mean?"

Sabine blushed too, "Ahn, you see, I kind of have a crush on him... so... that's embarrassing!"

The boy laughed a little.

"What are you laughing?" Sabine asked a bit annoyed.

"It's nothing, I just realized the other Sabine would never react like you did. She's kind of cold... and pretty direct and objective. Sometimes she hurts my feelings..."

"I didn't know I could be so horrible."

"She's not horrible! She's the most amazing person I ever knew! She's honest, brave, loyal... she may have been harsh to me, but I'm glad she has. Thanks to her, I became something better than I used to be... and I like what I became."

Koushiro noticed that Sabine was looking at him with enigmatic eyes.

"What is it?" He asked.

"You really like the other Sabine."

The boy's face turned bright red.

"W-what d-do you m-mean?" He stuttered.

"How silly. You should be more honest with your feelings." Sabine said in a serious tone, what made the boy stare at her.

"What is it now?" She asked.

"What you just said... sounded like my Sabine..." Koushiro said.

"YOUR Sabine, huh?" Sabine laughed, what the boy found cute, blushing a second later after realizing what the girl meant.

"Do you think this other life is real?" He asked. The girl took a while before answering.

"I believe in parallel universes... and you don't sound like the Koushiro I know... so I think it must be real."

"It's not the kind of stuff someone would normally believe." He laughed to hide his nervous state.

"Maybe, but I never was the kind of person who can be called normal." Sabine replied with kindness, what made Koushiro feel more confident.

"I think I should go back." He stated.

Sabine reflected about the situation, telling the boy her thoughts.

"I think the most important thing to know is the place your heart belongs to. If you know this, everything becomes easier."

"Do you know the place of your heart?" Koushiro asked with curiosity.

"My heart is wherever the people I love are." Sabine said with a bright smile. Koushiro smiled back. It was time to leave.

"Hey, other Koushiro!" She called him when he was going away, "the next time I see you, you'll be my Koushiro again?"

"I hope so."

"So... good-bye and good-luck!"

"Thank you, other Sabine."

At night, Shunsui and Catherine returned to the hotel room and found Koushiro sitting on a chair, waiting for them.

"Something wrong, son?" Shunsui asked.

"I want to talk to her privately." The boy stated. Shunsui was going to ask why, but Catherine dissuaded him.

"It's fine, dear, leave us alone."

Shunsui agreed and went to his bedroom. Catherine looked at the boy in a motherly way.

"What can I do for you, Koushiro?"

"This morning you were acting weirdly, nervously... I didn't realize the reason behind it, but now I do."

"What are you saying?" Catherine smiled anxious, "I was just tired because of the trip."

Koushiro looked at her seriously.

"I know I'm not this boy... I'm Koushiro Izumi."

The woman went deadly pale. Koushiro added, "I want to go back to my life."


	27. Home

**Chapter 27: Home**

"Why?" The woman wasn't understanding, "Why aren't you happy? Isn't this world perfect? We're happy... a happy family..."

"It's just fake happiness. Or better said, it's the happiness of other people," Koushiro replied with a severe look.

"So what?" the woman questioned. "You... I... that's just too subjective. The identity is a thing created by people to try to escape from the despair. It doesn't matter if the identity is true or fake, the important thing is to believe in it. You are what you believe you are, and you are happy by thinking like that. I transferred your conscience to Koushiro Yukimura's body and my conscience to Catherine's body. We can live in them forever, nobody will know. What's wrong with it?"

Koushiro was shocked by hearing that. The woman's creepy smile made him shiver.

"So you don't see any problem in stealing these people's lives?" he finally asked. The woman was trembling.

"What can be wrong with it? I'm with Shunsui and with you. I have my family that I love so much..."

"We are not your family."

"Stop saying this, Koushiro. You're making your mother sad, stop saying these horrible things."

Koushiro stayed firm and resolute, his memories were returning quickly.

"And you are not Catherine Renoir... you're Unschuld."

Unschuld slapped him hard and made him fall to the ground. _No, I didn't want to do that, I'm sorry, Koushiro_. Suddenly, everything turned black. Seconds later, Izzy was standing on a dark place, where a storm's winds hit him. He was trapped inside some kind of white light cage. Unschuld was at the other side of the bars, facing the ground. It was raining where she was standing.

"I brought you back to your body. You're protected inside this cage I made. Are you happy now?" she asked. Without knowing what to do, the boy nodded.

"Good. I'm glad... we don't need to go to a parallel universe if you don't want to. I can create a home for us. What kind of world do you want?"

"What?"

"I can turn you into a king, a wizard, an alchemist... anything! I can create friends for you, even copies of those you had. You can have anything you desire, you just need to ask me."

The despair was visible in Unschuld's face. The boy was starting to pity her.

"I want to go back to my world."

"Not this. You can ask me anything, but not this!"

Unschuld held the bars of the cage and looked into Izzy's eyes. She was crying.

"I don't have anything else..." she whispered, "Traum, Friede, Weisheit, Leben, Glaube... even the Shunsui I made... they're gone. I've lost everything... I don't want to lose you."

"You tried to kill me!" Koushiro threw that sentence on her face, angrily. "You destroyed my life and now you're saying that you care about me? Are you insane? Are you playing with me?"

Unschuld let go of the bars slowly, without facing him, and looked up.

"Maybe I am crazy... maybe it's just the reality that doesn't make sense... when I was born, everything was so... I was so confused. I don't know for how long I stayed like that, but I remember the despair. I was alone... I didn't know who or what I was... I was just a conscience floating... I didn't even know how to call my universe. Then, some memories appeared in my mind... I wanted a family. Yeah... I had no idea why, but I wanted a family, it was a strong feeling, a deep desire... I remembered of having brothers and sisters... the six gods... I recreated them."

"You mean Weisheit and the others?" Koushiro asked, she nodded.

"I was Unschuld, the first. I had the power to turn dreams true. My mind was still strange. There were times when my conscience went to somewhere else. I saw myself as a redhead human woman... I had a baby son and a husband... I felt a love so deep and strong toward them. When I was there, I found out the humans had tried to enter the digital world, but an incident happened... that woman's feelings and thoughts always invaded me... she feared the light she had seen that day... she feared the presence she felt when I was there... it didn't take too long for me to realize that I had been born in that incident... all my pain and agony had been caused by those humans. I wanted to kill them all... they had to pay... I ordered their deaths, but every time one of them was killed, that woman's despair was transferred to me... and my feelings toward Shunsui and you didn't disappear. I decided just Catherine Renoir should die... I had ordered Glaube to kill her and bring you to me."

"Why?"

"I could feel a part of me in you... my heart... if that woman died and I had you back... I thought I would be completed... the pain would vanish. But Glaube killed Shunsui and Weisheit took you away. Even with that woman dead, the pain never vanished. I trapped Glaube in that bug's body, to punish him. Then, when you became a chosen child, I made him protect you."

Koushiro was hearing every word of her. He wasn't able to defy what he was feeling.

"Why did you never kidnap me?"

"I wanted to. But that woman never allowed me. Her love... my love... was too strong... I tried to fight this feeling, I even brought you to the digital world, so it would be easier for me to take you... but I couldn't do that! When the incident in the mountain happened and I thought I had no excuse for not capturing you... when you were brought to my world and I had the chance to have the heart back... every time I saw your face, I felt so much love. When Glaube killed you... I thought I was going to die. I had to bring you back... I couldn't forgive him...

"What happened to Sabine and Tentomon? And the digital world?" Koushiro asked immediately, he had been worried there was some time.

"I saved her and the bug too and sent them to your world. I denied the destruction of the digital world as well. I was tired of death... I couldn't stand anymore... I was so tired... I didn't want to fight her anymore... I gave up, and accepted her feelings... I wanted to stay with you... to love you..."

Izzy couldn't look at that woman anymore, so he stared at the ground. His chest felt heavy. His vision turned black and he blacked out. Izzy woke up in front of a castle. A dense rain reached him, falling from the gray sky. The Heart was a few meters ahead. Izzy could see the other's back.

"I'm sorry about this rain, Heart," Izzy apologized.

"It's not your fault," the Heart replied, his voice didn't have any joy, which Izzy noticed.

"I'm sorry," the boy said, "I wasn't able to stay away of her. Now she has captured us. "

"I hate when you apologize, it's annoying. Especially if it's not your fault. You had no obligation in keeping me safe."

"But I've hurt you... and you wanted so much to stay like an 'I' and not becoming an 'it' again. Although it seems Unschuld doesn't want to take you from me anymore."

"Shut up, Koushiro." The Heart was losing his self-control, but Izzy continued to talk.

"Even so, it doesn't change the fact that you and I are stuck with her. I'm so sorry. I thought I could become stronger, but I was wrong."

"I TOLD YOU TO SHUT UP! I DON'T WANT TO HEAR YOU, DON'T YOU GET IT?" the Heart shouted, trembling. Izzy observed the other's back for a couple of minutes, silently, until the Heart decided to speak again.

"I'm just like her, aren't I?"

"What do you mean, Heart?"

"Don't play the dumb, if I've realized this it's because you also have."

Izzy didn't answer. The Heart began to talk again.

"I didn't want to become an it again... as if I was a real person... I even used 'I' to refer to myself, so proud. I hated you... I wanted to be a better person than you... another person. Then I thought it would be good if I stayed in your inner world forever... if it didn't rain again. What right did I have to forbide you from being sad? What right did I have to hate you? I'm not a person... I'm less than a ghost... less than a shadow of you."

"Heart..." Izzy didn't really have something to say.

"I've been stuck in this place, watching you live... feeling what you felt... thinking what you thought... as if I was you. I wanted to live. I didn't have anything real... anything unique."

"Don't say that!" Izzy finally protested. "Of course you have real and unique things! You may be based on me, but you've built your own identity!"

"IDENTITY? You mean 'a thing created by people to try to escape from the despair?' So I am what I believe I am? And I'm supposed to be happy by thinking this way?"

"I-I didn't mean..." Izzy tried to apologize, but the Heart didn't want to hear.

"Would I end up wanting to steal your life and be you? Would I end up wanting to believe that I'm you? Can I reach a level of despair that obliges me to hold on a ridiculous lie in order to escape from the reality? FROM THE FACT THAT MY EXISTENCE IS PATHETIC AND MEANINGLESS?"

The Heart was sobbing, making Izzy feel very uncomfortable.

"I fought so much to not become an 'it' again, without realizing...," the Heart could barely keep speaking, "or without accepting... that I never was an 'I' in the first place. You're a very logical person, I can't escape from this fact. I can't escape from what the logic tells me."

The Heart turned to face Izzy. The boy saw tears on the other's face, along with a forced smile.

"You know what I mean, don't you?" the Heart asked. "You know what must be done."

Izzy nodded sadly.

_You want that everything ends._

When the boy recovered his senses, he found Unschuld on her knees, at the other side of the bars, looking at him.

"Are you all right?" she asked.

"Yes," he answered. "I was talking to the Heart."

Unschuld bit her lips. Koushiro added, "It's time to put an end to this."

"I don't understand what you mean," Unschuld muttered.

"Yes, you do understand. Trust me, nothing good comes from lies, especially the ones that you tell to yourself."

Unschuld's eyes were getting wet. Koushiro gave her a severe look.

"Let's say I do what you want," he began, "and you create a perfect world for us, with a perfect Shunsui Yukimura and everything else, or you can take us to another parallel universe in which Catherine, Shunsui, and I are happy. Let's say I never find out the truth and we live like that forever. Can you live a lie every single day, for years? And pretend that nothing bad happened, that you never did the terrible things you did? Are you able to smile in this fake life and forget the lack of meaning it has?"

Unschuld let the tears run through her face. _I can't stand this... I can't bear it anymore..._

"What can I do, then?" she questioned sadly. "How can I make the pain disappear? How can I be happy?"

"I don't think you can," Izzy stated. "No matter how much you try to run from it, or hide from it, you cannot escape from what you are. And you are less than the shadow of a dead woman. Your desires, your dreams, your fears, your feelings and thoughts... none of them has ever been truly yours. You're just a tormented and empty being based on someone else. The pain will just disappear when you disappear."

"... You mean that I should kill myself?" Unschuld asked shocked. Koushiro shook his head.

"No."

"So what do you want me to do?" Unschuld questioned sounding more anxious, Izzy sighed before answering.

"It's just a theory, but I think it may work. You had told me that you wanted the heart to be completed again, right?"

"Yes."

"Do you know how would it be?"

"I think I would be like I was before having contact with Catherine's inner world," Unschuld said. "There was no pain or despair, my mind was completely clean."

"Just as I thought... the Heart had told me in the past that he didn't want to become one with you again because he would become an 'it' again. For a long time I thought he meant that your conscience would smash his, but now I see I was wrong... if you took the Heart back, your conscience and his conscience would cancel each other and you would be just energy and information, without feelings or thoughts."

Unschuld thought about that for a second_. My sense of self, my own conscience would no longer exist... I remember... I cogitated this many times, unable to deal with the torment... it was the only solution I had. This boy is right, my misery cannot stop while I remain as Catherine's shadow... it's foolish to try to deny this... I can't lie to myself anymore... 'myself'... it's truly ridiculous for me to say this..._

"So," Koushiro kept saying, "what must be done in order to make everything end... is that you have to take your heart back. Perhaps it doesn't work as we expect and you end up in a worse situation, but it's the best plan we have."

Unschuld couldn't believe in Izzy's calm tone of voice.

"Koushiro, do you understand what this means? If I take my heart back, you're going to die."

"Yeah, I know about it."

"So how can you propose such a plan? Don't you want to go back to your world anymore?"

Izzy didn't answer immediately. He took a deep breath and looked at Unschuld with serious eyes.

"I want to go back... maybe I could persuade you to let me return after a while, but then what? You would just stay here, suffering alone... and you could want to go after me again someday. The Heart would also suffer alone in my inner world..."

"SO YOU WANT TO THROW YOUR LIFE AWAY FOR US?" Unschuld shouted. "I can't do this... she would never let me do this..."

"It's not just for you! It's for me as well, and for the sake of a lot of people I care about!"

"HOW?"

"If I don't put an end in this... I'll be haunted by it forever... I would always be worried about it and wouldn't be able to have a normal and happy life... and everybody would worry about me. I don't want to lie to them anymore... I don't want to be this kind of person. I won't run away from my problems or hide myself behind a mask... I've decided this," Koushiro stated, but Unschuld wasn't convinced.

"You are going to die anyway."

"I have no intention in dying... I can't accept death after going through all this, after fighting so much. It would be a lack of respect to Weisheit, Sabine, my parents and my friends... but it's not just because of them that I want to live," Izzy was smiling serenely, "I have a lot to tell people about, a lot of things that I want to do. I want to learn more, I want to laugh more and even love more... I can't accept death now."

"But how can you survive if I remove the Heart?"

"I won't survive. I'm going to die for sure."

That statement disturbed Unschuld. "You're not making sense, Koushiro."

"I have to explain this better. I'm going to die when you remove the Heart, but I'm not going to stay dead. This is a subjective universe that you control right?"

"Yes."

"So, anything you want can become true, right?"

"Yes."

"Okay..." Izzy lowered his tone of voice, "after you take the Heart and I die, you can deny my death and send me back home."

Unschuld didn't reply after hearing that, so Koushiro added:

"I know it's risky. I assume you'll have few seconds of consciousness after you absorb the Heart, so you'll have to be fast. The chances of something going wrong are huge, but it's the only-"

"You really..." Unschuld said while some tears dropped, "...you're really going to trust your life to me, after everything? Have you forgiven me?"

"No... I don't think I can ever forgive you," Koushiro muttered. Unschuld stared at the ground when she heard that. Izzy continued:

"... but, I can understand you... I know how horrible is to feel lonely... and to not know who you really are or to where you belong... all what you want is to escape from the pain, no matter what it takes... despite this..." The boy wiped some tears that dropped from his eyes with the back of his left hand. "... as you said, my biological mother would never let you kill me and... I trust in her love."

Unschuld lifted her head and they exchanged looks. She wiped her tears with the back of her hand as well and smiled. Koushiro realized it was a true and beautiful smile now.

"There's no going back. This is the real end," she said.

Unschuld made the cage disappear and grabbed Koushiro. In decorrence of the sudden shock caused by her, the boy collapsed immediately. The woman put him gently on the ground and made a bright golden circle filled with binary code appear around Izzy. Unschuld touched the circle and began to absorb Izzy's energy and the Heart. In Koushiro's inner world, the young man could see the Heart next to him. He was fading away, but had a serene smile. It wasn't raining anymore, but there were still many clouds in the sky.

"Doesn't death scare you, Koushiro?"

"Not really, I've died too many times recently, it's nothing new."

"You're sure a weird kid," the Heart laughed, talking more seriously after that. "I'm sorry for everything."

"That's fine," Koushiro said. "Are you really okay with this?"

"It's not as if I'm dying, Koushiro. I'm not a living being. You can say that I'm going home."

"I see," Koushiro said softly, watching the Heart vanishing.

"Koushiro, you're really a good boy. I couldn't have had a better king... I wish that, from now on... your days will be always sunny."

He disappeared, leaving Koushiro alone.

_I wish the same for you, Heart._

Unschuld finished absorbing the Heart. She felt her entire being trembling and hurried to deny Izzy's death and send him back home. After that, her universe began to turn white and her physical form, Catherine's form, was starting to disappear. She put the right hand on the chest... it felt warm. She smiled and cried at the same time. Before disappearing, her conscience had a final thought.

_Thank you._

In the real world, three days had passed since Sabine had returned alone. She had told Auri and Charles what had happened to her and Izzy, without telling the truth about Tentomon or that she had found her father in there. She didn't want to talk very much, so the other two told the story to the Izumis and the others. Sabine went back to Izzy's apartment and, when asked about Izzy and the digitama, she merely answered that Tentomon had given his life to protect his partner and that Koushiro would come back for sure. On the first night, the digitama became a small green digimon. Despite being just born, the little monster was very unhappy and didn't talk to anyone, even after Sabine had told him that nobody knew the truth about Glaube and that nothing that had happened had been his fault.

Yoshie had received from Ceresmon the pearl named Koushiro, so she could know if her son was fine, wherever he was. She tried to be more optimistic, mostly because of Sabine being sure that the boy would return. Masami tried to do the same, even if he was deeply worried about Izzy.

Gennai, after having heard the shocking story about the Heart, used Joe's computer to try to find some clue in what had remained of the digital world. He and the others were very surprised when they saw that the digital world was there, intact, as if nothing had happened. Gennai returned to the that world and found out two things: that the digimons didn't know as well what had happened and that an immense white structure, like the skeleton of a building, had fallen from the sky and sunk in the ocean, between the File Island and the continent.

Persefonemon, Ceresmon and Chainmon stayed at Izzy's apartment, saying that they wouldn't leave before the boy's return. Auri stayed with Sora and Charles with Matt; they went to see Sabine every day. Despite Grayman saying that he was just checking the situation, Auri knew he was worried. Mimi and Palmon stayed with Joe and Gomamon because they didn't want to go back to the United States without knowing that Izzy was fine. The other digidestineds and their partners tried to return to their normal lives, but they were still anxious and concerned, wondering if their friend was okay.

Sabine didn't spend too much time in the apartment. She went to the park where she had arrived, the same park where Traum had died, every morning, leaving just by night. In the third day, while Yoshie was preparing the lunch, without noticing that the pearl had changed its color for one second, and Masami was trying to work on a project (without being really focused on it), and while the digidestineds were in their apartments or in their summer activities, a white and strong light came from the sky and reached the park. Among many "I'm sorry, I (we) have to go," and "could it be?," the digidestineds and the two members of the association headed right away for the park, Masami and Yoshie stopped everything and went there too, taking the little green creature with them.

Sabine, who was reading a book on a bench in that park, had to close her eyes when the light appeared. After her vision had been restored, she could see someone lying under a tree some meters ahead. She slowly put the book on the bench and stood up. Then, she walked to that point. The figure who was lying woke up and sit. He was extremely happy and kept repeating "It worked! I'm alive!"

He stood up and took a look around. He saw the girl walking in his direction and found out he wasn't able to move. All he could do was watch that girl come closer, approaching him. When she got close enough to him, he could see that she was about to cry and decided to talk to her.

"I'm sorry, Sabine. I let you waiting for too long?"

Sabine could feel her eyes letting some tears escape. That worried the boy.

"It's everything fine now, Sabine," he told her. "Please, don't cry."

"I don't want to cry," she said among sobs. "I know that I'm not sad. I don't really know how to explain this. I want to scream and laugh... I want to hit you... and hug you... since I met you, it's as if I have stopped making sense... things are so confusing... I don't understand... but I'm not sad..."

"That's good," Izzy said. "I thought these things were happening just to me. But you know what? I'm not scared for not understanding this... I kind of like the way I feel when I'm with you."

"Koushiro," Sabine said, "I'm not the best person to talk about feelings... I mean, maybe I'm wrong... my heart is beating so fast..."

"It's happening to me too," Izzy said nervously.

"I may not understand about this... but I think that... I feel that..." Sabine didn't know how to say it.

"We don't have to talk about it now, Sabine," Koushiro told her, trying to help, but Sabine shook her head.

"It makes me nervous... to speak... how silly..." Sabine was blushing a little and Izzy couldn't avoid to remember of the other Sabine. "Koushiro... maybe I can make it clear in other way."

"Sabine, I think I know what you want to tel-" Izzy didn't finish the sentence. Sabine had grabbed him by the neck and kissed him on the lips. The boy felt like his heart was going to jump from his chest and he had no idea about what he should do, so he sustained the kiss. It felt really great. After a minute, Sabine let go of him.

"So?" Sabine asked. "I was clear enough?"

Izzy laughed.

"What are you laughing at, Koushiro?" she asked without understanding.

"It's just that... I'm just so happy now," he said giving her an outstanding smile. "I love you too, Sabine."

"HOW CUUUUUUUUUUUUUUTE!" they heard Mimi shouting. Koushiro and Sabine turned around and saw Auri, Charles, Mimi and the other digidestineds and their partners looking at them. Izzy almost died of embarrassment, but Sabine didn't seem to care about them. In fact, now that Koushiro had understood her feelings, she was a lot calmer.

"You really didn't want to waste your time, huh, Izzy?" Tai mocked.

"Actually it was Sabine who kissed him, so..." Kari had begun.

"If all the girls could be so direct with their feelings, life would be so easier," Ken commented.

"What do you mean, Ken?" Yolei asked mad and he replied, "N-nothing."

"I knew it! When I saw those two together for the first time, I knew there was something in there," Mimi said.

"Yeah, you had told me about it," Joe added.

"I wish a girl kissed me like that," Davis muttered, looking to Kari. TK heard it and replied, "No way."

"I don't know why the humans make such a deal about it," Agumon stated.

"Yeah, Matt and Sora make it all the time, but nobody mock them," Gabumon agreed.

"Don't put us in the conversation!" Matt scolded the digimon, an embarrassed Sora nodded to what he said.

"You shouldn't act so childish," Charles said with conviction. "Those two have a long story. They used to sleep together in the past until Izumi left her."

The digidestineds stared at Grayman in shock.

"T-t-t-that's not t-true!" Izzy protested, his face was completely red.

"But it's pretty much what happened, Koushiro," Sabine commented as if it was a trivial information.

"Anyway," Charles spoke again, "even having a long story, you shouldn't go kissing people in public like this, weird girl."

"I don't think you're the best person to give this kind of advice, Charlie," Auri muttered, hiding a laugh.

They discussed for some minutes. Izzy realized his parents were silently observing him, with a green creature in his mother's arms. They were smiling and crying. Izzy automatically remembered the other Yoshie and what had happened in the other world. Without saying anything, he ran straight to them and hugged them tightly.

"I-I'm so... I'm so..." the boy said among sobs. "I love you so much..."

His words touched the couple, who hugged him back.

"We love you too, son," Masami said.

"Please, never worry us like this again," Yoshie asked. Izzy saw Pabumon in her hand and took it.

"You're fine... I'm so glad that you're okay," the boy told his little friend with a bright smile and approached him to his face gently.

Pabumon cried when Izzy did that, but he was glad that his partner was okay. Everybody was happy for having Koushiro back. Izzy was smiling widely to them all.

_I'm so happy... so happy... I came back home._

**If you're wondering, the parallel universe to where Izzy had been sent was the universe of Frontier. XD**

**Chapters 26 and 27 were supposed to be one big chapter, but I decided to split it in two parts.**

**I thank you for reading my story. Next time, the final chapter of Izzy's heart. Please, review the chapter if you liked it, it makes me truly happy.**


	28. Where the heart belongs to

**Chapter 28: Where the heart belongs to**

It was very noisy in the Izumi apartment the afternoon on the day Izzy had got back. Everybody was talking and laughing happily in the living room, while Yoshie was finally finishing preparing the lunch with the help of her husband. Izzy wanted to help too, but Sabine stopped him, whispering "let them do this for you." The boy glanced at her for a moment, comprehending her reasons later her reasons. His parents had suffered so much and worried a lot, without being able to protect their child. _They like to do things for me..._ Izzy thought. For the first time, he didn't feel bothered by that fact. Persefonemon, Chainmon and Ceresmon didn't talk to him when Izzy returned to his home, preferring to go to the roof. The tiny monster who had already become a Motimon stayed in silence the whole time.

Izzy didn't really want to tell his friends everything that had happened in the palace, just saying that Unschuld had taken the heart back and had her conscience erased. His friends, even being intrigued, seemed to understand that it was too soon for Izzy to give more details. Izzy could tell what happened later, there was no rush. Weisheit's followers suddenly entered the living room by the window.

"Well, we're leaving now." Chainmon informed, "We're going back to the Digital World."

"What?" Auri asked sad, "Why? You can stay with us!"

"We don't have any reason to stay. Koushiro is no longer in danger, right?" Ceresmon asked and Izzy nodded.

"Unschuld took the Heart from me and sent me back. She became an 'it' again."

"I thought you would die if you lost the Heart." Persefonemon commented.

"And I did die." Izzy said, much to the digidestineds shock.

"You died?" Tai asked in a whisper.

"Yes, but she denied my death." Izzy added calmly.

"Tai, don't make such a big deal about it," Sora told him, "we also died and resurrected, right?"

"Yeah, it's true." Tai admited. Persefonemon spoke again.

"It's time for us to go, we've already prepared the code on the roof."

"Wait." Izzy said abruptly. He was quiet, "About Weisheit..."

Persefonemon looked down and clenched her fists, Chainmon faced Izzy and told him what they thought.

"We know that master Weisheit died and that he died to protect you. We understood him more than you, so I want you to believe that there's no reason to feel bad about it."

"But..." Izzy wanted to reply, but Ceresmon didn't give him the chance.

"I'm sure that he was satisfied by dying being useful... he accomplished what he wanted and is in peace now. Master Leben didn't have this luck, but at least she's not suffering anymore."

Koushiro allowed some tears to flow, Persefonemon turned her face to him and yelled:

"DON'T YOU DARE CRY OVER HIM!"

Persefonemon was trembling in anger. Everybody, including Masami and Yoshie, who had come to check what the yelling was about, stared at Persefonmon a bit shocked. She continued:

"Be glad for what he did for you. He wanted to protect you more than anything. So, if you care enough to be sad over his death, try to have the best and happiest life you can... this way you can show that you respected him... and that his sacrifice was worthy."

Izzy wiped his tears with the back of his right hand, muttering, "You're right... sorry about my foolishness."

"That's fine," Persefonemon said with a smile. Ceresmon turned to Auri and spoke gently:

"It was fun to live with you, I hope you have a wonderful life."

"I will. I'll have a long and happy life, filled with accomplished dreams and much love." Auri replied with an immense smile. Chainmon faced Charles and told him:

"You're a very complicated person and is not usually honest with your feelings, but with the time it will be easier for you to open your heart."

"What was that? An effect phrase taken from a soap opera?" Charles mocked, but Chainmon didn't care, he could say that his words had affected the boy.

"Persefonemon, isn't there something that you want to tell Sabine?" Ceresmon asked.

"No," Persefonemon answered, "Sabine is the strongest and bravest person I ever knew, she doesn't need any sort of advice from me."

Sabine smiled lightly when she heard that, "What are you going to do now?"

"Master Weisheit's researches are scattered in the Digital World, we must go look for them and hide them in a safe place, in order to not let them fall into someone's dangerous's hands." Ceresmon informed.

When the three of them were leaving, Motimon suddenly shouted, "I want to go with you!"

Shock and a mortal silence fell in the living room, nobody believed it. Did they listen right? Motimon wanted to leave Izzy? The boy quickly took the digimon to his bedroom in order to talk to him privately.

"I don't get it, what on Earth is going on with Motimon?" Tai asked incredulous.

"Yeah," Davis couldn't believe either, "I mean, he shouldn't leave his partner after everything that happened. That's selfish!"

"You guys really don't understand, do you?" Tailmon questioned. The digidestineds realized that all the digimons had serious expressions, "You don't understand how it is for us... how horrible we feel if we're not able to protect our partners."

"But it was not his fault that Izzy-" Mimi was going to protest, but Palmon cut her off.

"It's not about fault, Mimi. How would you feel if the most important person in the world for you got harmed and you couldn't help this person at all?"

Izzy's parents and the digidestineds looked at the ground. Sabine was thinking, _if they knew what the real problem is..._

Izzy put Motimon on his bed and looked at him for a long while in total silence. Motimon just stared at the ground.

"Are you going to tell me why you want to leave?" Izzy asked in low voice. Motimon didn't reply.

"Are you even going to look at me?" The boy questioned, sad. The tiny monster kept his silence, which began to irritate Koushiro.

"Listen, I know how you're feeling, but you have to forget this thing about Glaube. You were used by them, you were a victim, so stop feeling bad about it."

Motimon lifted his head and gave the boy a furious look.

"You think you know how I feel, Izzy?" the tiny monster asked coldly, "You think I can just forget about Glaube? That things are that simple?"

Izzy looked down, "Sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"Stop it!" Motimon stated, "Stop apologizing. Don't you realize you're making everything worse?"

Izzy didn't understand. Motimon began to cry. The boy tried to hold his partner, but the little monster didn't allow him.

"Why aren't you angry at me?" Izzy's partner questioned, "How could you be happy by seeing that I was alive? And hold me... even now you're trying to cheer me up... I just told you that I'm leaving and you're worried about me... don't you understand that... the way that you treat me... I feel like dying?"

Izzy didn't reply, he just contemplated how terribly desperate his friend was.

"The first time I realized... I was looking at you on the ground... you were so injured... the city had been destroyed and I could hear Glaube's thoughts... I could remember the things he had done... and he tried to kill you! My body was moving to kill you! He was so strong... or maybe I was too weak, I couldn't stop him for long... he almost..."

"But you stopped him!" Izzy protested, "you were strong-"

"He regained the control and almost finish you off, STOP TRYING TO MAKE ME FEEL BETTER!"

Motimon rubbed his eyes violently, trying to wipe the tears.

"And then, when he was trying to kill you again, I took control of the body... it was hard, but I gave all of me to keep the control... I asked you... I begged you to absorb my code... before Glaube regained the control... why didn't you do that? Why?"

"I wasn't able... I just wasn't." Izzy muttered. Motimon looked at him with his wet eyes.

"Every time I close my eyes... every time I look at you or at Sabine... or Mrs. Izumi or Tai... every time I hear you voice... I can see it all again... as if that nightmare happened again... I see you being stabbed by the spear... the blood coming from your chest... and your mouth... so much blood... he threw you away like garbage, you weren't moving..." Motimon's sobs were becoming more intense, Izzy could feel his own heart tearing, "Sabine stood by your side... he killed her too... my hands... my body... I just wanted to die."

Izzy took Motimon from the bed and hugged him tightly, not letting the digimon repeal him. Motimon tried to break free, but it was impossible.

"You can be very idiotic sometimes, you know, Motimon?"

"What?"

"Would you feel better if I treated you coldly? If I blamed you, would you be happier? I can't do that. I'm not going to lie to you just to make you feel better. You aren't at fault and I don't blame you at all."

"I-Izzy-" the digimon was going to protest, but Izzy cut him off.

"In my mind, you and Glaube are very distinct people. He's the bastard who killed my parents and hurt the most precious people for me... you're my best friend who told me a long time ago that I wasn't alone because you were with me... the friend that stayed by my side in every situation and, even not understanding me very well, always defended me. I'm not good at expressing my feelings, so maybe you haven't realized how you are important to me."

The two of them stayed like that for some minutes, without exchanging any word, until the pink creature decided to break the silence.

"I'm sorry for not being strong enough... for not being able to be with you now..."

"You don't need to apologize, it's okay. I don't want you to suffer... You can go with them for now."

Izzy and Motimon returned to the living room, getting several looks. The boy put his partner on the ground and he walked to where Weisheit's followers were standing.

"Can I go with you?" He asked.

"Why do you want to?" Persefonemon questioned, Motimon looked at her with determination and answered:

"I want to do something useful... to compensate for everything."

"Compensate?" Kari asked.

"Motimon, you don't have to-" Tai protested, but Izzy interrupted him.

"Let him go, Tai."

"But-"

"Trust me, it's better for him this way."

Motimon smiled softly when he heard that. _Thank you, Izzy._

He felt some energy wrapping him and, when he noticed, he had evolved to Tentomon. Izzy's digivice was shining on a nearby table, where Charles had left it some days before.

"This means that they're not angry at each other, right?" TK asked Patamon.

"Yeah." Patamon replied.

"Let's go, then, Tentomon." Persefonemon called. Before leaving with the three digimons, Tentomon turned to Izzy and told him, "See you later." Izzy looked at him serenely and replied, "See you."

Auri's cell phone received a message at the same minute. She read the text quickly and Charles noticed her surprised face. He asked what the message was about and the girl answered, "_Opa_ is coming."

**The next day**

Charles woke up early and left Matt's apartment without making a sound. He had agreed in going with Auri to the airport later. The idea of that man coming bothered Grayman, justifying why he had to go to that place so early. However, when he arrived at the hotel, he was informed that his mother had left to the airport a few minutes before. He took a cab quickly. _She must already know_, he thought.

At the airport, surprisingly, Charles found Auri, Sabine and Izzy waiting for an airplane.

"Charlie!" Auri called him, "You saw my message!"

"What message?" He asked.

"My _Opa_ sent me a second message last night saying that he had gotten a sooner flight. He'll arrive here in a few minutes."

"Why are Izumi and the weird girl here as well?"

"I was worried that you could not see the message, so I called Sabine to not have to stay here alone, waiting. Izzy came because _Opa_ wanted to meet him. If you didn't know about the message, why are you here so early?"

Charles wondered if he should explain the reason. He didn't want to tell Izzy and Sabine about his mother. When Grayman took a quick glance at a small store nearby, he recognized the woman he was looking for immediately. Without saying anything, he headed for her. Auri recognized Felicity right away as well and understood the situation. _She was leaving... Charles knew and came after her?_ Izzy also remembered of that woman's face from Charles's memories. _It's his mother, what is she doing here?_ Sabine didn't know who that woman was.

Felicity, who was drinking a cappuccino and reading the newspaper, realized that the dark-haired boy took a seat next to her.

"Sorry for leaving without telling you, Charlie."

"I assume that you know who's coming." Grayman spoke sounding indifferent.

"Of course I know, if I didn't have my contacts, I would have been arrested a long time ago. But I'm not leaving because of him. I found an opportunity in Korea that I can't lose."

"Humpf, what a sad excuse for a mother you are." Grayman commented. Felicity went pale. _What did he just call me? Did he call me "mother?"_ Then, she saw the other teenagers few meters away and went to greet them, finding Izzy and Sabine oddly familiar.

"Hello, Aurélia. Good to see you again." Felicity said nicely when she approached the three, being followed by her son. "Charlie, are you going to introduce me to your friends?"

Annoyed, Charles introduced them.

"This idiotic redhead is Koushiro Izumi, despite the name, he's the son of Catherine Renoir."

Felicity examined the boy, astonished. A mixture of different emotions invading her heart. _The son of Catherine and Shunsui... he really looks like them..._

"Are you..." Izzy began, paling, "... Grayman's mother? The one who abandoned him?"

Felicity bit her lip, "Charlie has very good friends," she said, sad, "you must be thinking how horrible I am... you have this right."

"Don't go judging her, Izumi!" Charles scolded Izzy, to everybody's surprise, "She had her reasons for doing that!"

Felicity looked at her son amazed. _He defended me..._ Auri smiled proudly, _Charlie is really growing up._ Sabine seemed surprised, but didn't comment anything. Izzy just smiled softly.

"I'm not going to judge you, if Grayman forgave you nothing else matters."

Felicity smiled, "You're a really good boy, Koushiro. Your parents would be proud of you." She looked at Sabine after saying that, "Who are you?"

"I'm Sabine Weiss." Sabine answered. Felicity paled deeply, "You're... Joseph Weiss's daughter?" she asked.

Sabine nodded, "You knew him? What's your name?"

"I-I'm Felicity Faraday," the woman spoke nervously, "your father was a person that I knew since I was very young... he was... really dear to me..."

Charles was finding his mother's reaction extremely suspicious_. Joseph Weiss was a really dear person for her? And she knew him since she was very young?_ The shock was invading Grayman while he was putting the pieces together, _could this mean?_ _No, it can't be! Can it?_ Auri was reaching the exactly same conclusion as Charles. _Joseph... Jo... and Sabine and Charlie kind of have some resemblances..._ Izzy was remembering of the other life, in the parallel universe, _his mother's name is Felicity here too... could he and Sabine be...?_

Ignoring the teenagers's suspicious looks, Felicity questioned Sabine if she knew where Joseph could be. The girl looked at her seriously and said, "He died a few days ago."

The others stared at Sabine in total disbelief and she had to explain what had happened in the palace, where her father was murdered by Glaube. After her explanation, it was more than clear who Joseph was.

"The Jo you told me about... the one you loved... you were talking about Joseph Weiss, weren't you? He was my father, wasn't he?" Charles asked Felicity in low voice, but everybody could hear him. He didn't want to believe he was Joseph Weiss's son, especially after hearing about the things he did from Sabine's mouth. Felicity began to cry and sob in despair.

"Stop it!" Charles scolded her, "That jerk doesn't deserve any tears from you or anyone else, stop being ridiculous!"

Felicity didn't stop crying, "Charlie, I'm not crying because I want to cry... I didn't fall in love with him because I wanted it... if I could control my feelings... if I could hate Jo... I know how pathetic I am, but I had the bad luck to love unconditionally someone who wasn't worthy... it makes me happy, Charlie, that the same thing didn't happen to you."

Felicity looked at Aurélia quickly, nobody said anything. Her flight was announced and she prepared to leave, wiping the tears. "Have a good life, Charlie. You can use that account whenever you need."

"I won't need it, I can achieve anything by myself." Charles replied. Felicity kind of liked to hear that, when she was walking away, Grayman called her once more.

"Mom!"

The woman turned her face to him, incredulous. _He really... he really..._

Charles, faking an indifferent face that fooled nobody, added, "Take care!"

Felicity smiled widely at him, saying "sure." Some tears were still dropping from her eyes, but she wasn't so sad anymore. On her way to the airplane, a man she hadn't seen in a long time approached her, offering a tissue.

"Why are you crying every time we see each other?" the man asked.

"We just see each other in dramatic moments... I've just talked to my son. He told me to take care."

The man didn't expect that, but said, "It seems that Charles wasn't a lost cause in the end."

"He had good people to help him, including a wonderful girl named Aurélia."

The man smiled when he heard that, "She really is a wonderful girl. Where are you going now?"

"Korea."

"You're still having this sort of life?" He asked disappointed.

"Actually I'm going to teach Physics in a college, under a fake name, of course."

"Does Charles know about that?"

"No, I haven't told him about it. I want to see if it works first."

"I understand." The man was about to keep walking when Felicity called him abruptly.

"I'm sorry for everything."

The other looked at her for a while, "Don't be silly, Felicity, I don't blame you anymore."

"But..."

"Now, I just want my children to be happy. You're still alive, Felicity, that's the most important thing."

The teenagers were waiting in silence, Charles was getting bothered by the big smile Auri was giving him.

"What's with that smile?"

"I'm just kind of happy for you." Auri answered, still bothering Charles, who added, "Sometimes you're worse than Sabine."

"Hey, you shouldn't say this kind of thing about your little sister." Izzy scolded him.

"Don't go expecting any special behavior from my part toward her, I just got to know that she's my sibling today."

"Sibling..." Sabine muttered, "...it may be interesting."

Grayman blushed a little when he heard that. _Perhaps..._

"That's right! Charlie needs time before turning into the world's best big brother."

"Shut up, Aurélia!" Charles shouted, embarrassed. An old man protested behind him.

"Don't you dare talk like that to my little girl."

The four turned their faces to the old man. Auri yelled _Opa_ and hugged him.

"I saw you on TV, young lady! Do you have any idea of the sort of danger you've put yourself into?"

"Come on, Schultz," Charles interrupted, "It's seven o'clock and we're tired and hungry. You're seriously going to scold us?"

"Okay, I think we can eat. I don't feel like eating airport's food, though."

"There's a good place near my home, we could eat there." Izzy suggested. Albert Schultz studied the boy for some seconds, then asking, "Are you Koushiro?"

"Yes," Izzy answered, noticing the man's emotional face.

"There's a lot I want to talk to you about. And I want to know exactly what happened here."

"We'll tell you, Opa," Auri said, "but be ready to hear a long story."

**Two hours later**

Izzy returned to his home alone. He had asked Sabine that because he wanted to have a private conversation with his parents. When he had left, earlier, he had let a note on the table informing that he needed to go to somewhere with Auri and Sabine, without giving further explanations. After entering the apartment, he saw his parents having breakfast.

"Hello, sweetie!" Yoshie greeted, lovely, "Isn't Sabine with you?"

"No, she's with Auri I guess."

"Are you hungry? You left before the breakfast." Yoshie asked.

"I've already eaten, thanks." Izzy replied. He had a serious and thoughtful expression that caught his parents attention.

"Did something happen? You had a fight or-" Masami was questioning, worried, Izzy shook his head.

"There's nothing wrong, it's not a problem."

"But there's something bothering you, isn't there?" Yoshie asked, concerned.

Izzy was taking too much time to answer, which made his parents more apprehensive. "I think I have to tell you what I've been doing until now," he finally said, sitting on a chair across from his parents, "I went to the airport to accompany Auri. She was waiting for her grandfather, who had alerted her that was coming to Tokyo."

Masami paled intensely by hearing that. Yoshie didn't seem really concerned.

"Dr. Schultz must have known about the events and came because he was worried about his granddaughter." She commented.

"Yes, he was worried. We had to tell him everything that happened, which really freaked him out. It took several minutes, but in the end he was relieved that we were okay. He also said that he was going to create a center of research about the Digital World, in memory of his son... Auri was really happy with that and Grayman stated that he wanted to work there in the future... they're going back to Germany next week." Izzy concluded without joy in his voice. Yoshie felt bad about him, while Masami felt a certain relief by knowing that Schultz was going back to his country.

"I'm sorry, Koushiro." Mrs. Izumi said, "I know that you created bonds with them, especially Sabine... but you'll be able to see them once in a while, write e-mails and stuff."

"That's not all," Izzy added, "Dr. Schultz made me an offer."

Masami felt as if cold water had been thrown on him. _No, it can't be what I think it is._

"He told me about my biological parents and how much I resembled them... and he checked my grades and was very impressed... he said that, if I wanted to... I could go with them to the institution."

Masami shivered. Yoshie was astonished.

"Go to Germany? To live there? B-but what would you eat? Where would you sleep? What if you were attacked by bandits or gotten sick? O-or-"

"Mom, please, calm down. I would have a place to live there and receive financial assistance."

"B-but you don't even speak German!"

"I would learn it and communicate by speaking English during that time."

Yoshie could see determination in Izzy's eyes, "You... really want to go?"

Izzy bit his lip before answering, "It's not that I'm not scared or worried... or that I want to leave you... but the idea of studying and working there... discovering new things and learning... I think I would regret immensely if I let this chance pass... besides, I wouldn't be alone there! I'd have Auri and Grayman... and Sabine..." he blushed a little after saying the girl's name. Yoshie couldn't help but smile a little.

"I'm still worried, but if this is what you really want-"

Masami punched the table suddenly, scaring his wife and son. His hand was trembling.

"What nonsense is this, Koushiro?" He asked in a frightening tone, "You're not going to Germany."

Izzy heard that without knowing how to react. It was Yoshie who protested:

"Masami, if Koushiro wants to go-"

"He won't go anywhere! I forbid him from going!"

"Forbid me?" Izzy asked, hoping that he had misunderstood what his father had told him, "You don't allow me to go, is it? Why?"

"'Why?'" Masami talked as if Koushiro had said some absurd, "I won't let that man take you away to a different country where he can do whatever he wants to you!"

"What do you mean with 'whatever he wants,' Dad?" Izzy was turning angry at his father's tone, "You mean to put me in some sort of experiment that will go wrong and kill me? That's not going to happen!"

"Don't talk as if you could understand the situation-"

"I understand the situation a lot better than you!" Izzy protested harshly, standing up, "If you don't remember, I fought against the results of that experiment, I almost died! Better said, I died and more than once!"

"EXACTLY!" Masami shouted, "You died..." Masami's voice broke for a moment, "because of him... how can you even consider the idea of going to that place?"

"It was not Dr. Schultz's fault. Nobody had how to imagine what was going to happen and my parents weren't obliged to participate!" Izzy stated, "Stop blaming Dr. Schultz and admit the truth!"

"Truth? What are you talking about?" Masami asked irritated.

"Admit that you're opposing me because of your guilt! That you just want me to stay with you to make you feel better about my father's death!"

Masami frowned, Yoshie watched the argument speechless as Izzy continued:

"Wasn't it to make your guilt more bearable that you adopted me? You hated him until the day he died... you would keep hating him if he hadn't called you before being murdered and you had refused to help him! You think you can compensate your earlier selfishness by forcing me to stay with you? You're just being selfish again!"

"Is that what you think, Koushiro?" Masami replied, standing up too, "After all that I've done for you, that's how you treat me? Okay, then! Go! Leave this house! I don't need an ungrateful son like you! GO!" Masami roared.

"MASAMI, STOP!" Yoshie yelled, turning to her son quickly. Koushiro was staring at his father in total shock. Some fog was formed in his hand and a black spear appeared.

"Koushiro, wait!" Yoshie tried to grab her son, but Izzy teleported before she could do that. She looked at the empty spot where Izzy had been standing a few seconds before and then looked at her husband who still had a furious expression on his face.

"I was wrong all the time, wasn't I?" She asked, without hiding her deception. Masami didn't reply and looked to other direction. Yoshie walked to the door, adding, "You're still a child."

She left the apartment to go look for Izzy. Masami went to the living room. He took a picture from a table and sat on the couch, examining it. In the picture, a seven year old Izzy was with a yellow laptop on his little arms, smiling at the photographer. _I remember this, it was his birthday. Koushiro hadn't asked me anything, but, some weeks before, when I was going with him to the park, we passed by a computer store and I noticed that he looked with interest at some computers. When I asked him if he liked computers, he timidly said that they were interesting... he was more honest when he was four or five years old, probably because he didn't know about the adoption... but his eyes shined every time he talked about computers and how much someone could learn with them... he has always loved to learn new things... when I gave the computer to him, he looked at me anxious and asked if it hadn't been too expensive, he was worried about it. I had to convince him that it was fine and I didn't have any financial problem that could prevent me from giving him a gift. Yoshie told me later that Koushiro's behavior concerned her... she said that a child shouldn't have this kind of worry when is gifted by his parents... I told her not to worry about it, that there was nothing wrong with him... I think I was just trying to deceive myself..._

A tear fell on the picture.

_Deep down, I knew... Something bothered him, something made him sad... but I didn't want to accept it... I wanted to be a good father to him, it was my last chance... I didn't want to accept that there was something hurting him... a good father shouldn't act like that, should he? Perhaps I wasn't doing all that for Koushiro, in the end._

Masami got on his feet in a jump. _I must find him._

Meanwhile, Yoshie was walking on the street. _Koushiro must be sad and confused..._She suddenly remembered of a thing that had happened years ago, _I know where he is._

"Teacher Yoshie?" A male voice called. The woman turned her head and saw a young man, around 25 years, with brown hair, coming from a car, in her direction, "Wow, I think I haven't seen you in 15 years."

Yoshie didn't recognize him, what made the man sad.

"It's me, Tamaki Hatori, you were my piano teacher. You had gotten a license for pregnancy and never returned."

"Oh, Tamaki!" Yoshie remembered who he was, "It has been a long time!"

"Don't tell me! There are so many things I'd like to tell you, for example, I have my own music school now and-"

"Sorry, Tamaki," Yoshie interrupted, "I'd love to talk to you, but I have to find my son."

"Your son is lost?"

"He had a fight with my husband... but I think I know where he is."

"I can drive you there, if you want, teacher." Tamaki offered.

"Really? Tamaki, thank you so much! It's a bit far from here."

"Where is he?"

Four hundred kilometers from Tokyo, in north, there was a place called Fujioka Hill. The lonely hill filled with trees wasn't very known by people and, consequently, it had few visitors. A young man with red hair was lying on the top of the hill, looking at the sky. He was waiting for the night, when he would be able to see the stars. The boy, who had been there for hours, sat quickly when he heard someone coming from the trees. Surprised filled him when he recognized his father, Masami.

"Hello, Koushiro." He greeted, Izzy looked in the other direction.

"This spear of yours is really amazing," Masami continued, coming closer and sitting next to his son, "you traveled all the way here in an instant, while I had to pick a train."

"How did you know that I was here?" Izzy asked in low voice, still without looking at the man.

"I remembered when I gave you that yellow laptop and you used it to search information about the stars. Some days later, Yoshie and I brought you here, to see the stars away from the lights of the city. You were so happy... you were smiling in a way that we hadn't seen in years... I still remember what you told us when we asked why you liked the stars so much."

"You remember all that I had said about galaxies, supernovas, stars of neutrons-?"

"Okay, I don't remember all the details," Masami interrupted, embarrassed, "I remember what you said at the end of your explanation... 'stars make everything look small and insignificant.'"

Izzy didn't show any reaction. Masami spoke again:

"When we arrived at home, Yoshie told me she was concerned... she thought there was some deep meaning in your statement. I told her not to worry about that, that it was just a phrase from a child... I was just trying to pretend that I hadn't noticed... I did that many times..."

Izzy finally looked into his father's eyes, Masami could see how sad the boy was.

"I was a very stupid father wasn't I?" He muttered, "I tried so hard to be a good father, to change and become a better person... I had told Yoshie that it wasn't to make me feel better, but for you... but I was really doing that for myself... I was trying to deal with the despair... unable to see how you really felt... you never confronted me, you never showed your feelings clearly... but I should have done something."

"So maybe you were stupid sometimes..." Izzy spoke, "...but you were a good father too... you love me, right?"

"More than I can explain."

"Even if I was a lot different from you and liked of different things... you were able to love me... and I recognize that I'm not the kind of person who is easy to love... I'm complicated and stupid sometimes... Who cares if you messed up things? Nobody is perfect... I'm sorry for the things I said."

Masami wrapped Izzy in his arms, giving him a tight hug, "I'm sorry... I was horrible with you... forget what I told you, please..."

Izzy smiled, "This was our first fight, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, the first time I told you terrible things because of my concern and fear... and the first time you stood up against me."

"I think... we're more like the other fathers and sons now." Izzy commented. Masami thought about that for a moment.

"You're right."

He hugged Izzy more tightly and whispered in his ear, "I'll always be there for you, no matter what decisions you make."

"Thank you, Dad." Izzy said, hugging the man. Among the trees, Yoshie and Tamaki, who had arrived at the beginning of Izzy's and Masami's conversation, had heard everything. Yoshie was wiping some tears from her eyes.

"You're still very emotional, teacher." Tamaki commented.

"What woman wouldn't be emotional because of the men of her life?" Yoshie replied, "My little boy is really going to Germany now."

Tamaki seemed a bit happy to hearing that.

"Teacher, it means that you'll have some free time, won't you?"

"Uhm? I guess." Yoshie answered, without understanding.

"You see, teacher, the thing is that I'm looking for a piano teacher... and since you were great to me... well, would you be interested?"

Yoshie looked at him seriously, then she faced the ground. _I don't play piano since..._ more tears dropped from her eyes, _... I didn't feel I could ever play again... my heart wasn't able for that..._

The woman looked at her husband and son and the memories of all the happiness she had lived because of them made her heart warm. _Maybe..._

"So, teacher? Do you accept?" Tamaki asked again. Yoshie looked at him and gave her old student a smile, saying, "I think I can do this now."

**One week later**

"And don't forget to eat well and get enough sleep." Yoshie had spent some time giving her son advice in the airport. Izzy, Sabine, Charles, Auri and Dr. Schultz were waiting for their flight to Germany. The digidestineds were there too, in order to say good-bye to Koushiro. Mimi was sitting on one of the chairs in the airport, next to Joe. They had been talking for a while.

"So, you're going back to the United States in three days?" Joe asked, unable to hide his unhappiness.

"Yeah, I don't have any reason to stay here anymore," Mimi didn't sound happy as well, "I'm going to miss you guys... especially you, Joe."

Joe blushed a little when he heard that, "You know, Mimi... I've been thinking about a thing..."

"What?" She asked with interest.

"I have good grades... and I want to go to Medical School... and there are good Medical Schools in the United States..."

Mimi's face lit up as Joe kept talking.

"I think I can get a scholarship and go to a college there... it would be good, wouldn't it?"

Mimi smiled widely and hugged Joe, "I'd love to have you near me."

In other part of the airport, Kari and TK were observing the planes through a huge window.

"Is there something bothering you, Kari?" TK asked.

"No... I was just thinking about how things are going to be now."

"What do you mean?"

Kari sighed, "I never had any special power related to the light, it was Unschuld all the time. The digidestineds... our mission... everything was just a joke."

TK lifted Kari's head gently with his hand and gave her a deep serious look.

"How can you say such a thing, Kari?" TK protested, "It doesn't matter if we were manipulated... what we did was real... the digimons we helped, the fights we fought, the experiences we lived..." TK held Kari's hand tightly with his other one, "...everything was real and intense. If I had to live it all again, despite the bad moments, I'd live without hesitation... for the good things."

"The good things?" Kari asked lowly, TK gave her an amazing smile, "If I hadn't gone to the Digital World, I wouldn't have met Patamon, I wouldn't have grown up and become a brave person... and..." TK was turning red, "I wouldn't have met you, Kari... I like you really much."

Kari liked what she heard and hugged TK, "I'm happy for having met you either... I think you're right... it was worth it."

Auri and Charles were with Sora and Matt, some meters away.

"Thank you for everything, Sora. Sorry about the trouble," Auri said politely.

"Don't worry about that, it was nice to have you with me." Sora spoke, "Are you happy for going back to Germany?"

"Yeah, a lot! Opa, I mean, my grandfather is going to create a center of research about the Digital World." Auri said.

"That's great!" Sora exclaimed, "Are you going to work there in the future?"

"Actually, I think I'll take up research in Medicine." Auri commented, which made Grayman stare at her in pure shock.

"You mean... like your mother?" he asked, Aurélia smiled serenely.

"It's kind of weird, isn't it?" She said, "Not that I've forgiven my mother... but I think I understand her better now... I know how it is to love someone so deeply that you don't want to lose this person no matter what."

Charles didn't say anything about it. He just faced the ground. Sora was happy for Auri, "It's not easy to understand our moms sometimes... and we may not agree with everything they do, but it's always better when we can understand them."

Matt approached Charles, "So?"

"So what?" The other questioned.

"Aren't you going to thank me?" Matt explained, annoyed.

"Oh, right, thank you for cooking something eatable, even being a terrible cook, and for letting me stay in your cold, small and badly illuminated apartment."

"You little-" Matt was going to beat Grayman, but Sora held him back in time.

"Charlie." Auri whispered in Grayman's ear. He turned to see her.

"What?"

"Don't worry about what I said. I would never do what my mother did."

Grayman's face lit up a little, which he tried to hide, "If you say so."

"That's why," Auri talked again, "I want you to promise me that you won't give up on your life, no matter what happens."

"What a foolishness." Grayman said, "When the first of us die the other will be too old and nobody would depend on this remaining person. If it happens to be me, I'll do whatever I want, even if what I want is to chase you in Hell."

Matt and Sora stared at Grayman trying to hide a laugh.

"What is it?" Charles asked.

"You're a very romantic guy in a weird way." Matt said.

"Don't be stupid, you-"

"Grayman!" Matt spoke firmly, "I understand that it's hard to stop pretending to be tough and cold when you live like that for a long time, but you'll have to try harder, otherwise you'll be a lonely person!"

"Stupid Mathew," Charles said while turning his back to Matt, "no need in telling me such an obvious thing."

Meanwhile, Masami was watching Yoshie giving advice to Koushiro without saying anything. Sad memories were passing through his mind.

"We haven't seen each other in a long time." Dr. Schultz said, walking to Masami, "I never had the opportunity to apologize for my lack of manners 14 years ago."

"Your son had died, it's understandable." Masami replied.

"The last thing I told my son..." Albert sighed, "was 'stop daydreaming and do something useful.' It had been some time after the incident... Karl died thinking that I found him a failure... that I didn't love him."

"Children always know how much they're loved by their parents, even if they don't show this properly sometimes." Masami muttered.

"You sound unhappy, did I make you remember something sad?"

"Nevermind. It's just that airports bring me bad memories."

"In this case, you can turn today in a good memory, right?" Schultz suggested. Right after he said that, the flight 815 to Germany was announced.

"That's it." Izzy said. Yoshie and Masami hugged him a last time.

"Take care, son, don't forget to send us news!" Yoshie remembered him.

"Don't worry about it, I'll want to know about your classes..." Izzy replied, "... listen, since my room is not going to be used... you can turn it into something... it's not a small room... I think even a piano fits there."

Yoshie looked at the boy astonished, Masami laughed.

"Don't be silly, Koushiro. The living room is big enough for a piano, nobody will lay a finger on your room."

"Koushiro," Sabine, who had stayed next to the boy all the time, called him, "I think we really should go now."

"Yeah, you're right." Izzy said, starting to walk by her side. The digidestineds began to say their good-byes.

"Good-luck, Izzy!" Sora yelled.

"Have a good trip!" Matt wished.

"Show up once in a while!" Joe said.

"Make sure to discover amazing things!" Mimi shouted.

"And to learn more and more!" Kari said.

"Call us!" TK told him.

"And write e-mails!" Yolei added.

"We'll tell you all about Tentmon's actions." Davis informed.

"And you can trust us to send any message for him." Cody offered.

"You'll keep visiting the Digital World, right?" Ken asked.

"Izzy!" Tai called loudly. Izzy waited for him to say something, Tai smiled at him with confidence, "Don't over-worry about things. Everything will work out!"

Izzy was about to cry, but he held the tears, saying "Thank you very much... you all."

Masami was about to cry as well. Bad memories returning.

**Flash-back**

"Masami, say something to Shunsui!" Mr. Izumi ordered, Masami didn't say anything. He knew his father wasn't going to yell at him in the middle of the airport. Shunsui, however, said something to Masami:

"I'm sorry about everything. I hope you have a good life and take care of Yoshie. She's a good girl."

"What do you mean? Why are you talking about Yoshie? Have you been spying on us?" Masami asked angrily. Shunsui just smiled at him.

"I also hope you change, otherwise you'll be alone forever."

**End of flash-back**

_Turn this into a happy memory._

Masami breathed deeply and roared to his son:

"KOUSHIRO!"

All the people in the airport stared at the man, but he didn't care. "Be happy, my son."

"I'll be, Dad. For sure." Izzy replied, not holding his tears anymore. Charles was walking alongside with Auri while that was happening.

"Aurélia... I'll try to be more open with you from now on... I promise," he confessed. When the girl didn't reply, he turned to her and noticed that she was hearing music with headphones connected to a mini CD player.

"Damn it, Aurélia! You have to pay attention when someone is saying something important!" Charles scolded her, grabbing the mini CD player and dis-plugging the headphones, which made the music play aloud.

"Charlie, what do you think you're-"

"Come on, kids!" Dr. Schultz, who was about to cross the gate to the airplane, called the four teenagers. They all ran to his direction. Auri's CD player's music was still playing loudly. Izzy took a glance at the people he had left behind and at the ones that were around him. Words from another life were echoing in his mind and his thoughts were being affected by the melody coming from the CD player, even if he didn't understand the lyric.

**E nossa história não estará (and our history will not be)**

_Mom, Dad, Catherine Renoir, Shunsui Yukimura..._

**Pelo avesso assim, sem final feliz (inside out like this, without happy end)**

_Tentomon, Tai, Sora Matt, Joe, Mimi..._

**Teremos coisas bonitas pra contar (we'll have beautiful things to tell)**

_TK, Kari, Yolei, Ken, Cody, Davis, Gennai..._

**E até lá (and until then)**

_Weisheit, Leben, Persefonemon, Chainmon, Ceresmon..._

**Vamos viver (we'll live)**

_Grayman, Auri, Dr. Schultz..._

**Temos muito ainda por fazer (we still have a lot to do)**

_Sabine..._

**Não olhe pra trás, apenas começamos (don't look backwards, we've just begun)**

_My heart belongs to you all..._

**O mundo começa agora (the world begins now)**

_... just like yours belong to me._

**Apenas começamos (we've just begun)**

**Fragment of the song "Metal contra as Nuvens" from the band Legião Urbana.**

**That's it, people, here ends Izzy's Heart, my first and longest fanfic. I thank everybody who read this story, even not reviewing it. Thank you for not giving up on a fic so bad written at the beginning (I know my English is not really great even now, but it improved a little, I guess), not to say melodramatic at some points and with giant chapters. I know it was far from being a perfect fanfic, but I appreciate your patience. Thanks to my Beta reader Kaito Lune, and for the kind reviews that she and May Kat always sent me. I thank the people who didn't review very much, but reviewed anyway, you made me immensely happy. I also thank those who put this story on their lists and those who just liked to read it, but didn't like to comment. I'm really glad for writing a story that people enjoyed reading. You guys are my heroes**


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